Lumix and...Sony?

[Thpriest]

Looking forward to hear how the S9 holds up at a wedding.

[MrSMW]

1 hour ago, Thpriest said:

Looking forward to hear how the S9 holds up at a wedding.

Ha, so am I...

But seriously, other than any kind of manufacturer glitch, I think it will do well in it's role.

It's getting chucked in at the deep end on Saturday as my sole video unit (this couple have not booked full ceremony or speeches coverage which is covered by my pair of S5II's) and a shame it won't be super-hot weather to really test it.

I'm not sure what's going on with the weather this year but it will be the 8th out of 9 weddings in a row where the forecast says great weather 2-3 days either side of the actual wedding day.

Only one however had a bit of rain and nothing serious and another was cloudy with a chance of meatballs, but otherwise the forecast has been wrong.

It's currently saying 29-34 Celsius each of the 3 days either side and 26 & very cloudy wedding day.

I am doing something a bit different however and going back to burning a LUT into the footage.

It's a nice clean 'ARRI' job from Phantom and side by side with every other conversion LUT I have tested, by far the best.

It just makes editing so much easier than dropping a LUT on every single piece of footage or even dragging an adjustment layer and doing it that way.

It worked fine all of last year and I'm not really sure why I went back to not doing it for this, but returning to it and I find it just makes everything easier including exposure when I can see on the LCD (combined with the WFM) fairly accurately what it will look like.

I can't remember my in camera hue & sat adjustments however so will need to work that one out again over the next few jobs.

And worst case scenario with the S9 if it does not work out for any reason? Easy, a third used S5II.

The new Nikon Z6III could probably give it a run for it's money or even beat it, I dunno, - haven't really looked, but for my video needs, the S5II is exceptional.

Size, weight, form factor, 2 card slots and can write to both unlike some (Nikon), class leading IBIS (no gimbal required huzzah), 6k 30p Open Gate internal and zero banding shooting it if you use the right settings. And factor in the price, especially used...

The S1H is now off on Friday as is the Zf and Z6II.

I wish I could keep the S1H and use it for something, but the reality is it would just be a paperweight and gathering dust now as with the pair of S5II's and now the S9, it just does not have a role. A better camera in various aspects, but I'd rather have the cash than it sit on a shelf.

The Zf and Z6II were only ever an experiment and 'place holders' in advance of the Z6III and if for any reason, my new (used) Sony A7RV doesn't work out, I think it would be my first and only choice, but nah, 99% certain I have the Sony in hand now and for my purposes, sit's in it's own class all factors considered, at this present time.

Glass though...

If Sigma make a bigger brother to that 28-45mm f1.8 such as a 50-100, it's game over for my 3x Tamron lenses because as good as they are, the above pairing on an A7RV would be a dream.

But as only one of them exists and I like to have things within a system, no plans unless they make a pair.

To conclude, as far as I am concerned, I think...I THINK, I'm done for this year and hopefully longer.

I genuinely hate jumping around and making changes. I find it extremely painful, but at the same time, there is a balance of tools required for my very specific needs and as I have mentioned many times, there is no manual for what I do so it is very much a trial & error process.

I really thought I was starting the year with a set of tools I would not make any adjustments to for the entire season, but as always, the real world stepped in and coughed in my face.

This stuff is tried & tested though now (well the S9 is technically 'new', but actually it's the same as an S5II, just with a few limitations that are not limitations for my purposes), especially the Lumix video side, but also the Sony now as I've actually had 8 shooting days with it.

I'll shut up now. Just been waiting for my phone to charge 😚

[IronFilm]

  

17 hours ago, MrSMW said:

You jest, but a few years back, I did, as an alternative to a Go Pro with the Backbone rig and lens options but in the end went for a Sony RX100V which I shot all my video on for a year but ended up changing it for it’s bigger brother, the RX10ii.

 

Wait what... you were shooting for a while professionally with just a Sony RX100V? 😮 

Truly we engage in gear overkill... relative to that!

(or do you mean just as a secondary camera to your primary?)

[MrSMW]

7 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Wait what... you were shooting for a while professionally with just a Sony RX100V?

Yes, I mean exactly that. It was my sole video camera for an entire season.

No full length ceremony or speeches etc, but hundreds of clips throughout the day.

I’ll go see if I can find anything on Vimeo but it might be a bit old now…!!

[Ninpo33]

6 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Yes, I mean exactly that. It was my sole video camera for an entire season.

No full length ceremony or speeches etc, but hundreds of clips throughout the day.

I’ll go see if I can find anything on Vimeo but it might be a bit old now…!!

True story;

 

Years ago I was hired to fly to Thailand and follow around the worlds leading Michael Jackson impersonator for a concert tour. If things went well I was going to be hired on to film the rest of the world tour. Everything was super last minute and I had just sold my camera so I ended up going totally minimalistic and grabbing the RX100. I had been using it as a B-Cam for a few months and was pretty comfortable with it but it was still terrifying coming from my rigged out 5Dmkii. 

At my stopover in Hawaii I learned that the Thai people were protesting and they were marching in the street, the economy was tanking and things were a mess. Concert was cancelled. Ended up flying to Nepal to film some other documentary stuff for a friend and his hemp company for two months. RX100 was a blast to use and I really enjoyed going so minimal up in the mountains. Next trip I bought the GH4 and GX85 (Based on Andrew's articles here) And the RX100 was quickly sold after seeing the image stabilization and the really filmic image of the little GX85 beast. 

[IronFilm]

16 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Yes, I mean exactly that. It was my sole video camera for an entire season.

No full length ceremony or speeches etc, but hundreds of clips throughout the day.

I’ll go see if I can find anything on Vimeo but it might be a bit old now…!!

I remember being very impressed with what Brandon Li shot years ago with his Sony RX100 that he put up on vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/rungunshoot 

But I can't seem to find it again. 

He likely removed remove, like he did with his Sony NEX-5N videos (probably because of the people who were in them, and didn't want his brand image associated with them any longer):

https://web.archive.org/web/20130215084133/https://www.rungunshoot.com/the-350-docu-filmmaking-kit-depreciation-is-wonderful/ (ha, I see my old comment there from 2013! Forgot I wrote that)

[Ninpo33]

3 hours ago, IronFilm said:

 

He likely removed remove, like he did with his Sony NEX-5N videos (probably because of the people who were in them, and didn't want his brand image associated with them any longer):

I remember those videos. He really led the early movement for minimal camera setups at the time. Very inspiring to me and my travel kits over the years.

I think about those old videos and also Kenny Ty and his early Canon T2i stuff on Vimeo whenever I get too fixated on camera specs or have late night GAS...

 

[MrSMW]

On 7/24/2024 at 7:06 PM, MrSMW said:

And worst case scenario with the S9 if it does not work out for any reason? Easy, a third used S5II.

And that is exactly where it ended up.

I liked the S9 but did not love it.

I didn't need to 'love' it but I asked myself the question, was it better than a S5ii and the answer was no.

I asked myself if it was as good as a S5ii and the answer was still no.

I asked myself if there was any single thing I preferred about it over a S5ii and came up with nothing.

There was just a constant nagging at the back of my mind that it's a single card slot plus it does not have a fan and why would I use that when there was a better alternative?

And to a lesser extent, the weight and build. I found it a little too light and just felt like a toy in my hands. OK, had the cage arrived in time, they would have helped with the handling and build feel, but this would have made no difference to the lack of a second card slot or a fan.

And yes, I knew all of this prior, but thought I'd at least give it a go, especially if it was not going to cost me anything just in case the real world experience threw something up. It didn't but only highlighted the flaws.

So I sent it back for a full refund.

I would have kept the S1H for the rest of the year at least, but instead took the opportunity to add a third used S5ii as that made the most sense and though that cost more than trading the S1H, less than the S9.

As far as a full kit, I am officially done. It just works. I could not find a better viable alternative based on what is available in 2024.

I am sure it exists but I'm not interested because what I have now, for the first time ever, really does just work.

The future though as in 2025...

That one is down to Lumix or L Mount as a whole...

At some point, I would rather just use one brand/mount and I have built a kit that could really go either way as in currently it is L Mount for video and Sony for stills, but could be purely L Mount or Sony for everything.

There are really only 2 future scenarios now that will trigger any change to one single brand and those are, in the blue corner, the next gen body from Lumix combined with a longer version of the Sigma 28-45mm f1.8, or in the red corner, the rumoured 28-105mm f2.8 from Sony.

I have a self-imposed max 1kg rule on lenses this last year...UNLESS it's a genuine 'one and done' scenario and then I could make an exception.

28-105mm f2.8 on a 24mp sensor? Nope.

28-105mm f2.8 on a 61mp sensor which can crop to 42-157.5 @ 26mp? Yes please. As long as it does not exceed 1.5kg.

If Sony do indeed pop that one out, all in on Sony next year is a viable option.

If Lumix pop out a 60mp S2H for next season it's an option...

If Lumix pop out a 60mp S2H for next season and Sigma something like a 50-100 f1.8, then it's goodbye Sony.

I don't really care either way and none of it is a necessity because in the absence of either of the above scenarios, I would quite happily just stick with what I have right now, ie, any further change now, has to bring something quantifiable to the game.

[MrSMW]

Well this last weekend 3 day job was the first time I actually got to use every bit of kit as intended and it passed.

With flying colours.

And it was not without it's challenges at times including some rain and a fair bit of wind...

The S5ii's are for me right now, just perfect and will be for the foreseeable future.

The A7RV for stills, other than the occasional need to drop out and reinsert the battery, approx 1 in every 500 actuations (I switch off in-between use a couple of hundred times per shoot at least) really only has one niggle and that is even with the Smallrig baseplate, still isn't quite as good in the hand as I'd like (but waaaaaay better than the Nikon Zf) so added a Peak Design clutch strap for the next couple of jobs that I think will fix that, but if not, I might consider a battery grip because with the 20-40, it's no issue, 28-75, slight issue and it's really only with the 70-180, it becomes a bit annoying.

I have nothing now I feel any NEED to change and won't for the rest of the year, but for the future/2025...

A 'S2H' might be of interest to replace one of the S5ii's as my run & gun unit, but not sure it will bring anything to the party...but we'll see. It might be an option just for interest and to replace spiritually, my now dearly departed S1H.

A 'S2R' might be of interest to replace the A7RV, but struggling a bit with lenses for that to happen. The Sigma 28-45mm f1.8 would need to spawn a longer sibling...so again, we'll see, but 2 things that would need to happen there.

Pondering either a fast prime around 35mm'ish for low light photography or possibly a sidekick for the A7RV to weld the 20-40mm to and reserve this unit purely for 'after dark' duty which can be 20-25% of any job. It would also act as a stills back up (at all other parts of any job) to the A7RV as currently, I'd have to pull one of the S5ii's off video duty to fill that role of called upon.

Contenders for this backup/night role are:

ZV-E1 (12mp stills does not faze me in the slightest but it's AF ability in low light does a bit)

A7Cii (AF ability in low light again, concerns me slightly compared with say the Zf...)

Nikon Zf which was fantastic in low light, but is a bit of a chonky boy.

Hmmm, fact cheap f1.8 lens sub 500 vs second used body around 1.5-2k...

It's the only area where the A7RV could be improved upon. It's not bad, fairly decent even, but I know it could be better and probably won't happen this year as I'm getting close to season end and don't really need to test anything, but ideally would like to do something for 2025.

But then there is a rumoured Sony 24/28-105mm f2.8 coming soon and that could throw a spanner in the works and push me towards a second body and lose a lens in the process.

We'll see, but very happy with the hybrid set up I have now finally achieved after almost 15 years of effort in this genre. I have now merely entered the stage I shall call, 'just fannying about really', as in anything else/new now is just tinkering for tinkering sake rather than need.