Tell us about you, and your camera journey

[Andrew Reid]

Shall we get to know each other a bit better so we can look beyond the opinion soup?

How about I challenge you to a camera meet-up, forum style...

 

1. Show us a picture of your current most used camera and lens

2. Tell us a few facts about yourself!

3. What's your favourite music, favourite sport / team, other hobbies

4. What your hopes are for the future of EOSHD, what would you like me to cover - and the camera you are looking forward to most?

5. Tell me what you miss about your country and home town when you are not there

6. The year you first started reading EOSHD

***** To make each post easy to read please number the answers 1-6 *****

Go!

[PannySVHS]

Hey Andrew, what a great idea!

1. my most used camera is the GX85 with either Fujinon Cmount 12.5mm 1.4 or boosted Canon FD 28mm F2.8. Most current camera is the Lumix S1 with different flavors of FD mount lenses like Vivitar 90mm Macro or Canon FD 20mm. Super fun focal lengths and lenses on the larger sensor. So here is a pic of my most recent camera which puts out an incredible image even in its 8bit 709 profiles, coupled with the Vivitar 90mm.

2. I´m a filming addict who needs his daily camera exercises. To this day I admire old school Eoshd articles and the film making essays of Tony Zhou, which are magnificiant for everyone who wants to learn film. Film making to me is a rather personal than industrial affair. I enjoy to be on creatively challenging sets with limited resources. Have been a gaffer for quiete a few gigs now and hope these guys don´t forget pay me back on my sets some day:)

3. favorite hobby is getting lazy and growing a belly.:) I love stills photography and used to love any kinds of sports. Favorite athletes are Katharina Witt, Mike Tyson and Zidane.

4. I am looking forward for EOSHD to stay  welcoming towards different people, flavors and opinions other than mine.:) I wish for some friends to come back like @kidzrevil, @maxotics and others. I would love more articles of overseen gems and nerd machines like LX100, modded Sony A6000 or the Pentax lens which is a Zeiss. And most of all more film vignettes by Andrew Reid, the man himself!  I would have loved a follow up blog post on the EOSHD 200EUR camera challenge. Would love more official and moderated challenges like that.

5. I miss certain things in culture, arts, solidarity, intellect, kindness and sensuality the most, since commercial culture and dull salesman blahblah and mentality have been pushing anything else aside.

6. First time reading Eoshd could have been around 2012 when reading about the GH2 on dpreview. Beautiful times!

Now, interested in your posts, dear friends!

[Mako Sports]

1. FS5 w/100 - 400 G master. Sometimes I'll run a 70 210 f4 FD or a 70-300 FD.

2. I eat, sleep, and breath, the sport of lacrosse. I hate video but I love color grading. College Sophomore. 

3. I like rap/hip hop mostly but I listen to some 80s style synth occasionally. The breakfast Club and Top Gun are my favorite movies. 

4. Please cover more lenses both vintage and modern, id like to see some stuff about the SLR magic primes and Zeiss CP.3s. Since ima Sony Fan boy A7siii or FX6.

5. Sweet Tea (if your from the South East US, you know what I'm talking about.)

6. I believe 2018. 

[tomsemiterrific]

1. Show us a picture of your current most used camera and lens

At the bottom is a rather unglamorous photo in my work shop of my Nikon Z6 with a Vizelex ND throttle adapter, and Zacuto viewfinder, and one of the set of Canon FD lenses I love to shoot the out and about hand held videos I often shoot and edit. In studio I use mostly Canon cameras. I've owned a BUNCH of them: C100, C100Mk ii, C300 Mk ii, C200, EOS R...right now most of my videos in-studio are made on the XC-15, mainly because of the good audio of that camera. Shooting handheld video with fast primes, especially  on the long end---like the 2.8 200 mill on the Nikon in my photo, is difficult and a challenge. But what I lose in some shots I gain in others...and I love the freedom and spontaneity of hand held shooting.

2. Tell us a few facts about yourself! 
Began as a professional clarinetist. After years of university teaching I got involved in manufacturing and designed an entire line of professional clarinets for one of the three great French clarinet makers: G.Leblanc Corp. Began my own clarinet company in 2005 and we now produce clarinets of my design and send them to both professionals and advanced players all over the world--everywhere except Antarctica.

In 2000 I wrote the first complete pedagogy in the history of the clarinet---my interest in education has never flagged.  That combined with owning a business to promote lead to me producing now over 200 educational videos on every aspect of the clarinet. Learning video over the years got me hooked on it as a "Ding an sich." Since then I've done a lot of videos---working to wed music and images---with varying and marginal degrees of success. Quixotic as it may be I persist---I just love making stuff.  Here's one I last fall with the Pani S1. 

 

3. What's your favourite music, favourite sport / team, other hobbies
Brahms, Beethoven,Schubert, Mozart---especially German Lieder. Hate the mostly trash I hear blasted at people everywhere.

4. What your hopes are for the future of EOSHD, what would you like me to cover - and the camera you are looking forward to most?
You do a fantastic job, and you reviews have few peers. I just hope to continue to benefit, with my obvious limitations of time, from all you and the "video wokafile" pros share here. The whole video community owes you a continuing debt of thanks.

5. Tell me what you miss about your country and home town when you are not there
My family, hands down. I'm glad most of my traveling days are over--for several reasons, not the least of which is it is getting to be an increasingly dangerous world. Though I do hope to visit my daughter and her family if we can get past this scourge. They live in....Barcelona, of all places.

6. The year you first started reading EOSHD
Probably about 2013. Not sure when I actually gave myself an identity.

[MrSMW]

1: Between cameras. Was: XH1 + XT3 + X100F (plus a camcorder, Mavic Air, DJI Osmo Action).

Hoping that for a season in the future, a combo of; XT4 (hybrid), XT3 (video), X100V (stills).

2: I have been alive to date for 49 years, married for 24 this year, a father for 15, a wedding photographer and videographer for 20.

3: I used to watch; F1 and rugby, but along with everything else... Not especially into any particular type of music. Gym/fitness ‘enthusiast’. I run, row, bike, lift and walk. Currently training to attempt CrossFit workout Murph by the end of this year.

4: Less political discussion. XT4 and X100V in the new short term. XH2 longer term.

5: I am a Brit living in SW France and am split in terms of both the best and worst of both. It’s easier to live in the UK (by far) but the weather in the Summer here is better and it’s less crowded.

6: Dunno without checking but maybe sometimes looked without participating for a year or so and then joined about 2 years back?

[heart0less]

1. It's not my most used combo, but the one I like best. X-T3 + Zhongyi Lens Turbo II (which is basically glued to my camera, rarely do I take it off) + Pentax M 50/1.8 (love this little fella, it's the best fifty I've ever had).
During the past few years I've had the chance to jump between many systems (Canon DSLRs, Sony E, Panasonic M4/3, Samsung NX, you name it..), every one of them had some quirks. Then I got into Fuji (by chance) and something clicked. Maybe it's the camera, but maybe it's my attitude that changed. I no longer feel the urge to have the latest features, the best gear possible. Having said that, I still like to indulge myself sometimes. ( :

 

 

2. Well, I guess you could learn something about me reading between the lines.
I'm a medical student, hopefully to be a doctor in 1.5 years time.
I'm also more of a research-everything-extensively-before-you-do-anything kind of guy. Making a plan and then sticking to it. Everything should be in its place.
To be honest, I think I have some mild case of Asperger's, lol.

 

3. Favorite music - you name it. I listen to classical music, movie soundtracks, rock, electronica, chiptune. Almost everything, apart from rap, jazz and blues.
I don't support any team, don't follow any sport, though I really like backpacking and cycling.

Besides that, I also cut stencils and spray paint them. Street-art was one of the things that got me into all the camera-related stuff, actually.

 

4. Some more challenges! Anything to make us creative.
Sharing our thoughts about the craft / process would be great, too. BTS stuff, etc.
Cameras are great, but they don't have the power to change anything you're trying to capture, the things you have in front of you.
Maybe some DIY talks?

 

5. It's a difficult question for me, since I'm not really outside of Poland that often, maybe twice a year. And when I am, I rather try get to know and enjoy different cultures as much as I can.
About my home town: all the people I used to hang out with and my family.

 

6. I guess it was 2018.

 

 

[Oliver Daniel]

 

1. Show us a picture of your current most used camera and lens

EVA1 and Sigma 18-35mm. 

 

2. Tell us a few facts about yourself!

As a child, I was haunted by a ghost called Linford Pickle. 😂

I come from a family of artists and musicians.

I was forced to go to church then realised it was all bollocks. 

My first ever video was called "Demon Boy". It was shite. 

I'm scared of baked beans and peas.

I've starred in 2 televised music videos, once as the lead. 

I've got eczema and I hate it. 

I have 2 daughters. 

 

3. What's your favourite music, favourite sport / team, other hobbies

Manchester United - although I've got very disinterested in sport for the past few years. 

Music - As a teen was obsessed with Radiohead and Muse. Now I'll listen form anything from jazz to classical to synth-pop. 

Other hobbies - nothing. Filming and being a Dad takes up EVERYTHING. 

 

4. What your hopes are for the future of EOSHD, what would you like me to cover - and the camera you are looking forward to most?

Do more episodic video stuff. 

Do less on cameras and more on lighting! More interesting. 

Cover vintage lenses and weird shit that they do. Modified lenses. 

RED Komodo looks neat. Canon R5 and 6 I hope will live up to hype. 

 

5. Tell me what you miss about your country and home town when you are not there

Seeing people. Working with artists. My family. Having a pint and a laugh. Making shit. 

 

6. The year you first started reading EOSHD

I knew barely anything. Got a Canon 60d DSLR and started reading all this "complex" stuff people said like "10 bit 422". Read it over and over until I understood. Liked the way EOSHD focused on experimental stuff, cheap cameras and weird as fuck lenses. Think it was GH2 time. 

 

[Jay60p]

Hello from the USA!

Current camera Fuji X-T3, with my latest lens
acquisition AF-n Nikkor 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5,
And DIY lens support rails built with old chem lab hardware.

I’m married with two boys in high school, retired.

Favorite music: classical (Bach & Beethoven),
and British ’70’s rock (Yes, ELP, Who, Tull, etc)

Hobbies: playing an old grand piano, Hammond M3, Minimoog, Prophet,
Rhodes 73, Peavey DPM-C8.
Recording Multi-track (used to be Tascam 38, now Macintosh).
Lionel train layout & miniature village,
Old movie film production equipment & projectors in 16 & 35mm,
Tinkering with various hardware & old equipment parts to do something new.

EOSHD coverage: looking forward to new tips & tricks for mirrorless video,
best vintage lenses, and comparisons of the new cameras.

I found EOSHD early 2019 after getting the Fuji X-T3.
My 1st DSLR was Fuji S1 Pro (great color! https://***URL removed***/reviews/fujis1pro,
pictured with the same Nikon lens I used.) Next was the Canon T2i.
But I did not use these for video and never looked at photography forums online.
But Fuji X-T3 is a completely different animal!

[noone]

1) A7s and Canon 17 f4 L TS-E (other most used lenses FD 24 1.4 L, Sony Zeiss 55 1.8 and Sigma 150 2.8 APO macro) See below.

2) Barely functional human.     I have had a VERY "Homer Simpson" life ...EG do not drive but managed a Motor Registry (DMV office), EG, qualified as an aircraft maintenance engineer (instruments and electrical) as well as a powerhouse watch keeper but can barely change a light bulb .

3) Love most types of music and my main interest has been photographing live bands and artists and despite being very average have gotten the best seat in the house for some wonderful (mostly Australian but a few from overseas) bands and had some very good bands have used my pics (videos less often but did not really do any until a couple of years ago but have been shooting stills since 35mm film days).   Have been the/A official photographer at many festivals including Jazz/Blues, rock, pop, metal and others. 

Sports nut when younger (again some Homer moments)...the worlds worst Rugby player (both types) but I played with and against people who played for Australia at times (including some who beat the All Blacks at Eden park....yes they could once or twice).    Competitive weight lifter (silver medal state championships) in school but have friends who's DAUGTHERS are stronger than I EVER was.

4) Just glad EOSHD is a thing....Thanks Andrew!

5) Not planning on leaving much (and currently can not due to you know what).

6) Can not remember but a lot earlier than I joined.

[leslie]

6. Joined about halfway through 2018 i think. Not sure if there are other video forums around. I googled anamorphics.
   This was the first video forum i found, haven't bothered to look elsewhere yet.  

5. Not my words, but it does sum it up rather nicely.
    
   I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains.
   I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror, The wide brown land for me!

4. I'd like to see more people participate in the video challenges.Their kinda fun and every time i get involved,
   i tend to learn some thing new in resolve or on the p4k. I also enjoy seeing other peoples direction or take on things
   Not sure i am looking forward to the next great camera. I kinda feel that now i am 4k capable, in many ways i'm ahead of the curve. Its up to the tv stations and internet to catch up and i cant see them throwing themselves at the problem. I think hd will probably be a standard for a long time yet, at least in australia.

3. Definitely 80's music, by the end of the eighties all the good notes had been used up i think
   The only concert i have seen was the black sorrows at twin towns. It was great and loud.   
   Movie wise, the usual suspects, topgun, beverly hills cop, miami vice, good movies, good soundtracks.     Movies that i liked but didn't do so good at the box office, the princess bride, brotherhood of the wolfand anything with jackie chan in it

   I'm a fan of sport up to the point of where it gets commercialized. When you start throwing large sums of money around
   then you can't really call it sport anymore. Not sure what you call it but its not sport.
   I'd rather watch torvell and dean, than two teams crash tackle each other into the ground.

2. typical aussie bloke, pretty casual attitude. presently aged 52. I probably need to structure my content more,
   not sure if it shows in my videos or not. 🙄
   About the time i got the p4k i became a carer for my dad. Going from fulltime worker to a carers pension has been interesting.
   Sounds kinda corny but i bought an artists sized sketchpad, been doodling and putting down some thoughts for a music video and a movie. I tend to float between various projects rather trying to multitask.  
   
   I really like the wide screen look of anamorphics. Had some issues with headaches last month or so, done some tests not sure what goes on but they seem to have settled down a bit but its left me depleted. When i can find some enthusiasm i plan on playing some more with the elmoscope even if it is dual focus at the moment. Its definitely pre corona virus, if you were wondering

1. There can only be one, and for me its the bmd p4k. Lenses are currently attached via the viltrox speedbooseter, either an  asortment of pentax m42 lenses or the tokina atx pro 28-70 zoom.   😉
 

[MrSMW]

Forgot to add my pic...

XT3 with Meike battery grip. I would prefer not to use a grip but it does transform the handling and triples the battery power and when shooting 4K...

Sirui freestanding monopod about 3 years old because I still can’t find anything better.

16-80mm f4 lens which is a bit slower than I’d ideally like (have some f2 primes if I need them) mainly for the range and OIS for handheld stuff.

It’s also got a Gobe variable ND on it that is controlled with a marked up rotating Nikon lens hood I glued on.

Good old Rode Micro for a better audio to sync to from up to 3x Sony pocket recorders and lav mics. Fluffy for outdoor use.

For dancing stuff at weddings it’s just a case of whip off the mic and put an LED on the hotshoe.

 

[BTM_Pix]

1).

My current most powered up camera is the Pocket4K but I wouldn't class it as most used as its purely for the development of that project. Not that any camera is really being used at the moment due to the total lockdown we have here so I will go for the one that was the most used, which is the Sigma FP with the 7Artisans 35mm f2. Sadly even that was only briefly as I'd only had it about a week before being locked down and even that period it was only used whilst wearing a mask! 

2).

The first "real" camera I had of my own was a Nikon EM that I got new in 1979 (yes, I'm that old) which had to be replaced three months later after it was broken when I was by pulled from a crowded city centre street by a Special Branch anti-terrorist snatch squad, held face down in their car and driven at high speed to some sort of warehouse and interrogated on suspicion of taking surveillance pictures of targets for the IRA. 

I am a survivor of the Hillsborough disaster and at the official enquiry the Police presented doctored CCTV footage of me escaping from the crush to support a fictitious timeline of the events that would absolve them of any culpability.

I have some trust issues with the UK Police.

3). Indie/new wave from 77 to 85 with an honourable mention to Kraftwerk who sit outside of that genre but influenced a lot of stuff inside it.

Sport as a fan would be Liverpool FC but I've also been fortunate enough to shoot the two greatest players of the recent era (and statistically in any era) in Messi and Ronaldo and you can't help but be a fan of both when you witness it at such close quarters.

From other sports, shooting Mark Cavendish at the Tour de France when he explodes out of the pack to win stages was something special and even his sometimes "challenging" demeanour when trying to shoot him post race if he'd lost made him more endearing to me because of the honesty of it.

4).

Unfortunately, it seems pretty clear that we will be presented with a new normal after all this and it will likely be one with less money for a lot of people. 

It could be that in the new normal film making and photography etc will be seen as frivolous but it is as equally likely that creative pursuits will be vital to keep everyone's mind engaged, as an escape from the bleakness but also as a reflection on and documentary of this next period.

So for that reason, the forum can and should be a great resource and support network for that.

Inevitably, with the expected financial downturn, it should probably have more features about doing more with your current gear than getting more new gear.

That should not only call for more articles about DIY projects and lighting/composition tutorials etc but also for retrospective reviews on older gear that is still perfectly serviceable and how to eek everything out of that.

So as well as sub-$200 film challenges maybe look at "$2000 camera vs $2000 complete setup" type of comparisons as well.

Some stuff about sound design as opposed to just recording sound would be cool as well. 

5).

Family, obviously.

But also that triggering of memories when you walk down particular streets.

Mainly, though, I miss having a decent chippy.

6).

I think I started contributing at the end of 2016 or early 2017 but was a long time reader before that.

I first came across @Andrew Reid at a two day film making conference in London about ten years ago that was mainly devoted to using EOS cameras, where, if memory serves, he was barracking Phil Bloom from the audience about the GH1 being better than the 5DMarkii.

I thought he was rude, opinionated and extremely disrespectful.

Naturally, after seeing that, I felt sure this was the place for me  

 

[Thpriest]

1. Currently the GH5 and the 10-25 f1.7 (previously the Sigma 18-35 and SB). GH5S and 12-35 2.8 are gaining ground...

 

2. Scottish/European - grew up between Greece, Cyprus, London and Scotland. Lived in Spain for over 17 years. Work as freelancer video/photo. 1 wife, 1 daughter, 2 cats and presently dealing with the lockdown shit storm that's already hit businesses hard here.

3. Music: Present favourite group is All Them Witches

Also like Jimi Hendrix, The Faces, The Black Crowes, Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine, Van Morrison, Funkadelic, James Brown, Bob Marley, Love, The Stooges, Terry Reid, Naxatras, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Mogwai, Spooky Tooth, Slint, Soundgarden to name a few.

Sports: Celtic FC

Hobbies: gardening in my terrace, camping, day dreaming...

4. In general the content is interesting (minus the rammies!). I hope it continues as a positive space where professionals and enthusiasts can share experiences, knowledge and opinions.

Looking forward to the GH6 as I enjoy the video centric design of the GH series along with the reduced weight and costs (although the 10-25 1.7 was pretty pricey!). A slightly more ergonomic BMPCC 4K/6K would interest me.

5. My home town is now Madrid. I miss the openness when I'm away.

6. No idea

 

[apekkpul]

Hi all,

1. BMPCC 4K and Oly 12-100, but I also frequently use GH5 and A73. I had a hacked GH1 and footage from it still looks lovely even cameras have improved so much.

2. I am from Finland and now living in the Netherlands. A hobbiest and working with public healthcare.     

3. I still enjoy listening songs that I heard when I was a teen (such as It never rains by Dire Straits)

4. I am looking forward to GH6 and A7SIII. Probably I don't need those, but I may want one. 

5. I miss Finnish forests and sauna. I used to live in the UK and I miss hiking areas (National Trust) and Sunday roasts in good pubs.

6. I have been following EOSHD every now and then since the GH2. 

[rawshooter]

1. Sigma fp + Lomo OKC 4-28-1 (28mm T2, Super 35mm/APS-C).

2. Working as a teacher at a design school + photographer + video maker.

3. Since this site is based in the UK, I'll list my favorite British music: Daphne Oram, Brian Eno, The Pop Group, favorite sport: boxing, with huge nods to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Otherwise, privileged that my job is my hobby and vice versa. 

4. Hopes for EOSHD: I most appreciate DIY/self-help/community mutual help coverage and discussions. The current thread on the Sigma fp (and how to work around its quirks) is a brilliant example, as is the thread on shooting RAW video on the EOS-M. My hope for the future of EOSHD is to further explore this direction. IMHO, progress in camera technology is slowing down, and we are almost "there".  (For example, a mirrorless camera with an s35 sensor, clean 6400 ISO, good IBIS, good video autofocus, good color science, good manual controls, internal 10bit log + RAW recording would basically be "it"; which means that a camera like the Fuji X-T4 is 95% "there".) At some point, it might become more exciting to max out existing, cheaply available technology, than wait for the next great camera to come out. The EOS-M with MagicLantern Raw is a brilliant example.

5. There's better food, better climate, better street manners and now even better public services (transport, health...) in other parts of the world than in the Northern European country where I live; and as the Corona crisis shows, maybe generally smarter societies. (I'm particularly thinking of high-tech Asian countries such as Taiwan and South Korea.) But what I do miss elsewhere is my local arts community, aside from living in a stable part of the world with lower political threats/risks than elsewhere.

6. Must have been in 2013 when MagicLantern's RAW video recording on the Canon EOS 50D was reported here.