What (fav) cam manufacturer in late 2024?

[Andrew Reid]

Favourite COMPANY or favourite cameras? From a personal point of view favourite company is definitely Sigma... Family run, different, innovative, the best of all the companies at modern lenses, and best bang for buck too on those. The Fp-L may not be the best all-round mirrorless camera... this would be the Sony a1 or a Nikon Z8... But they're a proper thinking-man's camera company and embolic of what makes Japan so special when it comes to their family run companies. Sigma behaves the opposite of American anything-for-profit evil entities.

Their APS-C primes are lovely on a Fuji body, and much better bang for buck than your Sony GM primes for example or Canon RF.

In terms of favourite tools by one company overall - if I had to pick just one or two then these would be by Sony, the a7 IV bang for buck is very good, Sony a1 and a9 III are all-rounders with faultless capabilities in every area - there's very little you can't do armed with one of these Sony bodies... In fact ever since the a7r II and a7s II they have been on a very good incremental improvement path, starting with ergonomic improvements, then colour, but really in every single area of a camera spec they have not put many a foot wrong. Favourite company though? Not a chance. I don't agree with their hugely inflated prices on lenses and the higher-end bodies, I don't care for any of the top brands in terms of companies - not Sony, not Canon, they are a corporate shadow of their former selves in terms of philosophy and company culture.

Fuji would be second to Sigma for me as a company - their strategy is unique and there's nothing better in medium format, APS-C or compact cameras than what they're providing in 2024... X100 VI, GFX 100 II, X-H2 - wow what a trio that is...in terms of the ULTIMATE power, feature-set and specs the GFX 100 II is better than anything, even Sony a1 II.

Third favourite company would be Atomos... haha only kidding.

[Marcio Kabke Pinheiro]

Honorable mention to DJI - because they are thinking kinda outside the box. And choose to grow in unexplored markets.

They started with drones, and snowballed the market - except in some niche sectors, they crushed everyone else.

Second marlet tried was cine, with the DJI Ronin 4D - which I think is the most innovative camera of the decade. A lot of completely new stuff there - the LIDAR Af with the depth map for manual focus, the wheel control, the 4 axis gimbal. Not so great in ergo, but was an amazing achievement. This path they not suceed, but was a ambitious 1st try.

And the Osmo Pocket 3 - almost everyone that tries it falls in love (including me). Amazingly easy to operate (my wife is using it to make social media videos for her clients, she knows NOTHING about filming, and the videos come out very good), very good stabilization, and the image quality is like 80% of my X-S20. The only camera that I ever used in auto ISO - its metering is VERY good. And in a very unusual and compact form factor, a REAL pocket cam. 

There are rumors that they will enter the traditional camera market - I have my doubts, since all the markets already established that they entered they have no (the Ronin 4D) or ok success (action cams and gimbals). They rise on unexplored paths - and I guess that if they make a camera, would be breaking some molds.

(albeit I suspect that the 1st breaking mold camera should be - or MUST be, to be a success - the 1 inch "half-frame" Fuji)

[MrSMW]

2 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Sigma

Yup. They were my favourite for primes, but I preferred various recent Tamron's for zoom stuff, notably my current trinity of 20-40, 28-75 and 70-180. 

But this year, Sigma moved the game on with their 28-45 f1.8 and 28-105 2.8 and all that's 'missing' for me with them right now is a longer sibling to that 28-45.

I've said it before and will say it again, - if they make something like a 45-90 or 50-100, also f1.8 and internal zoom, I'm done!

As it is, I'm getting the 28-45 and 28-105 for next season as they just make complete sense for my needs.

Plus, yes, I also love their philosophy and family run nature. 

[PannySVHS]

Panasonic, if they bring out a S9II with mechanical shutter, evf and hotshoe plus full hdmi for 1499, a GXX with a GH5II inside for 849, a S2H with FF 60p and internal ND for 2999, a GM6 with 10bit 150mbit 4k up to 30p and 100mbit HD up to 60p for 799. The latter would be a beautiful bonus, though a very beautiful one indeed.

[ALKW]

On 11/6/2024 at 10:54 AM, Ninpo33 said:

I picked up a number of older Minolta AF lenses this year for really cheap and metabones makes a MAF to Fuji X speedbooster for them. Having the full set of lenses for peanuts including a lot of fast f/1.4 lenses is going to be fun to play with. 

 

Does this Metabones speedbooster support Continuous AF in video mode?

[Ninpo33]

On 11/17/2024 at 5:24 PM, ALKW said:

Does this Metabones speedbooster support Continuous AF in video mode?

No, AF is not supported at all. There is a Sony adapter for A mount lenses to E mount bodies but it’s only for photos and has no video functions unfortunately. 
 

I shoot video/films and rarely use autofocus so for me adapting lenses is all about the image IQ first and I can usually live with other issues. Most likely I will end up getting the whole set rehoused in the future to PL or LPL anyway. 

[Benjamin Hilton]

My favorite right now has to be Sony. After years of squeaking by with old cameras from several different brands, with odd adapters and cheap lenses, we finally invested in a complete Sony package this year. Overall just a really solid offering when it comes to cameras, image and feature wise. The FX6 is the best documentary camera hands down IMO. E-ND, 4k120, 4 channels of audio, good ergonomics etc. 

We're pairing that with a couple of FX30s for studio work, solid image and great for static use. And an A7R IV, which has been an awesome camera for some light video combined with photography use. The really nice thing is we can use all of the above mentioned cameras in a multicam shoot if we want, and they will match decently in post. 

[BTM_Pix]

On 11/6/2024 at 3:51 AM, BTM_Pix said:

Next Monday I will be buying my final camera* and it will be from the same brand that I have bought in every one of the last five decades.

Nikon.

Needless to say this absolutely did not happen.

Again.

Been in and out of camera shops for the past 10 days and just can’t make the decision.

Three really strong contenders caused a serious case of paralysis by analysis.

Two more days here but realistically it is not going to happen.

Maybe next year.

[IronFilm]

3 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Been in and out of camera shops for the past 10 days and just can’t make the decision.

On the upside: a penny saved, is a penny earned. 

I just purchased a couple of new lenses, if only I had a bit more paralysis by analysis then perhaps I wouldn't have spent any money.

[BTM_Pix]

26 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

I just purchased a couple of new lenses, if only I had a bit more paralysis by analysis then perhaps I wouldn't have spent any money.

Oh I bought two lenses too as soon as the paralysis wore off 😂

They were easy though as I needed two more servo zoom MFT lenses for a project and the herd is thin when it comes to those.

I *think* there are only four (two each by Panasonic and Olympus) so I now have the full set.

[MrSMW]

7 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Three really strong contenders caused a serious case of paralysis by analysis.

Z8, Z6iii, Zf?

Perfect trio for me…

Z8 stills workhorse with Zf more for candid and walkabout plus Z6iii as the primary video donkey, but all 3 could pull that role as required.

I was wandering around old London Town yesterday late afternoon/early evening, heading for HMS Belfast as I had not been in years, but it changed into finding and having the missus’ phone fixed instead as it stopped working.

But just during that period and yesterday in York, reminded and cemented for me, how great the Zf is to own (again) and use.

Build, feel, clicks, shutter, EVF and rear LCD quality. So much nicer than any Fuji I owned.

I think Nikon has moved for me back into pole position as my favourite camera brand.

Just not for lenses. But then all of e Mount can be adapted so the options are the biggest with any current lens mount; Z, F, adapted M and E. And M can be adapted with the AF they do not have!

But every day walkabout, Zf with a 40mm is that chefs kiss thing they talk about.

[BTM_Pix]

3 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

Z8, Z6iii, Zf?

Z8, GFX100S and Sony a1.

The Z8 because it just doesn’t give a fuck about restricting specs and for the mounting options.

The GFX100S because it had a tiny bit of flaking so was ridiculously cheap *and* it’s party trick is to not only be able to adapt all of my F mount lenses with AF but also my Hasselblad HC lenses.

That’s a new lease of life for those lenses, particularly the HC lenses as my H3Dii39 is beyond economic repair.

The a1 because used ones have got a lot cheaper in the last ten days with the impending mark 2 versions and it hits a sweet spot of resolution, power and compactness.

Also, I have seldom seen anything other than very, very nice video coming from it.

The other thing that stopped me was the nagging feeling that a mark 2 Fp-L or higher res ZF are possibly coming over the horizon.

At which point the dance will begin anew.

[MrSMW]

12 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

The other thing that stopped me was the nagging feeling that a mark 2 Fp-L or higher res ZF are possibly coming over the horizon.

At which point the dance will begin anew.

It always does.

I currently hope they do not make a successor to the FP because my dancing skills are shit.

But until then, the GFX100S for me.

I have almost pressed that button so many times, but in the end, came down in favour of the A7RV.

 

[Ninpo33]

1 hour ago, MrSMW said:

But until then, the GFX100S for me.

I have almost pressed that button so many times, but in the end, came down in favour of the A7RV.

 

Smart choice and for the money, more practical for sure. Until the AF gets better it’s still a pretty specialized system.

i would love a new GFX rangefinder 50R mark 2 or 100R that shoots decent video.  The 100S has gotten crazy cheap for what it can do but I need better video so I’ve always talked myself out of one. For my needs I need Video even on the third C camera that also acts as a high res stills hybrid. 

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, MrSMW said:

But until then, the GFX100S for me.

Within a minute of me posting those musings, someone wandered by with an X1D-II doing a bit of street photography.

I’d forgotten how compact it was and then remembered that Hasselblad make a focal reducer adapter for the HC lenses that restores their correct FOV on the smaller sensor.

The hips gave a small jiggle.

[MrSMW]

But I’d rather have the Hassie 😉

I ogled one in a camera shop window the other day, but dared not enter and actually handle it. Or risk divorce papers being served.