Step aside L Mount Alliance and...

[Thpriest]

I've come to the same conclusion for now. I can't find better value than L Mount. What I would say is that if you haven't tried the Panasonic 1.8 lenses then you should. I really like them and they work well for both photo and video.

[MrSMW]

I bought the 85mm f1.8 when it came out and used it for a while back when I only had an S5.

Good focal length for my photo work but a bit long for video and that’s one of my 2 ‘Big Niggles’ being a hybrid shooter.

Niggle 1: The crop flipping between stills and 4K 50p video. 

Niggle 2: Using VND’s when flipping between stills and video.

I came to the conclusion early this year that until cameras come with internal VND’s that turn on or off depending on whether you are in stills or video mode, other than occasional times, it’s better to dedicate units to stills OR video.

Also, dedicating units gets around that annoying 1.5x focal length difference.

With my new set up, it’s pretty straightforward re. focal lengths and filters…

Stills = 20mm, 35mm and 85mm. If I need longer I crop and with the S1R, I can do that to at least a 150mm equivalent resolution to say a 24mp sensor.

Video = ‘24’, ‘42’ or ‘105’ with the S1H and ‘27’ or ‘75’ with the S5 as I tend to use zooms at their extreme ends only.

Back on the native 1.8’s, I want to like them, but don’t. I went with the Sigma Contemporary f2’s over them preferring them and going forward, the f1.4 Art’s just make even more sense for me.

And for some weird reason, the Sigma’s tend to AF better for stills but the Panasonics better for video?

I may have a very rare (for me) commercial job coming up in early Dec so should get a chance to try out the new set up out, but we’ll see.

 

[Kisaha]

With RF I can use EF lenses with the vND adapter which is a much better solution than the filter in front of a lens one..at least for me. One of the deciding factors going RF.

[Thpriest]

50 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

With RF I can use EF lenses with the vND adapter which is a much better solution than the filter in front of a lens one..at least for me. One of the deciding factors going RF.

I agree that’s a great system. There is an adapter for EF to L mount that has a vnd but I’m not sure how it affects af.

I use Xume magnetic filter rings for my vnds. They are very useful. I don’t know why they stopped making them.

 

[MrSMW]

That does exist for L Mount, just manual focus only. It’s made by Fotodiox and I have it for my single Meike cine lens.

However, there is a workaround using Lidar and DJI.

Apparentiy you have to set it up on the gimbal, but can then remove it.

A British guy Sam Holland posted a video about it on YouTube the other day.

I might look at it, but then as above, the zooms make more sense for me for my specific video needs.

But yes, if not internal a drop in filter system between body and lens is the next best thing, especially for hybrid use.

[kye]

17 hours ago, MrSMW said:

I came to the conclusion early this year that until cameras come with internal VND’s that turn on or off depending on whether you are in stills or video mode, other than occasional times, it’s better to dedicate units to stills OR video.

I'm guessing you're quite sensitive to 180 shutter then?

I see more and more wedding videographers and even high-end YT channels use super-short shutter speeds rather than NDs.  With phones exposing via SS I think that most social-media-oriented folks have just gotten used to it.

[MrSMW]

4 hours ago, kye said:

I'm guessing you're quite sensitive to 180 shutter then?

Not sure specially.

I flit between ‘The Rule’ and overcrank it other times…

Ideally, I’d stick to using it but with internal ND or something between the lens and body, anything else is a faff!

Magnetic VND’s? PITA for my use case 🤪

[MrSMW]

iPhone autocorrect 🤪

“Not especially”.

[Thpriest]

There is a kind of flap filter that you can stick your vnd on. Just flip it up and down. No idea if it’s any good.

[MrSMW]

Yep tried it and it works, but it looks ugly!

Internal or between the lens and body still best though, especially if changing lenses and they have different filter sizes.

Sure you can use step up rings but there is also the lens hood issue and lens hood exist for a reason.

At some focal lengths and with some filters, you can still use either the original or attach something aftermarket and some of my larger diameter VND’s have one ‘welded’ on and you rotate the entire hood/VND as a single entity.

I’m not really sure why there are not more options for ‘between’ but I guess it’s more because of the electronic side than the mechanical one?

I don’t really understand why Canon for instance make their RF Mount to EF lens only and don’t have an RF-RF because if I ever went to Canon, I would mostly like to use RF lenses.

Just one more mystery in CameraLand!

On another note, there is beginning to be a lot more chatter & speculation about something S line coming in the early Spring of ‘23 and it seems that Panasonic have officially confirmed this…

[kye]

8 hours ago, MrSMW said:

I don’t really understand why Canon for instance make their RF Mount to EF lens only and don’t have an RF-RF because if I ever went to Canon, I would mostly like to use RF lenses.

Are you asking why there isn't an RF to RF adapter with a vND in it?

That would be a bit of a challenge, because either it has no glass in it and therefore has to be zero thickness and can't fit an ND, or it isn't zero thickness and therefore needs glass in it to keep infinity focus and can't fit an ND as the glass would be in the way.
The EF-RF adapter works because the adapter must have some thickness to align with the right distances for those mounts.

[MrSMW]

7 minutes ago, kye said:

Are you asking why there isn't an RF to RF adapter with a vND in it?

Pretty much! And for any system. But I clearly don’t know how these things work! 🫣🫢🤪