PhotoPlus Expo, Part 2: New Sigma Cine Lenses Should Worry Canon, Zeiss

It was only a matter of time before Sigma went up-market to take on Canon and Zeiss in the cine lens space. With pricing just announced on their 18-35mm and 50-100mm zooms of around $4,000 a pop -- and a meaty, solid and precise 85mm T/1.5 in my hands for all of 90 seconds -- it seems clear to me that Canon and Zeiss should be worried.

Read more

PhotoPlus Expo 2016, Part 1: Looking at the Cameras I Usually Don't Review

I missed Photokina (I had to head home from Europe two weeks before Photokina began), but with announcements of Fuji's GFX 50S medium format digital camera,  Panasonic's GH5 and Olympus' OM-D EM1 Mark II, there's no way I was going to miss PhotoPlus Expo in New York City hot on the heels of the German show for a chance to see and feel these puppies in the metal. Too bad ALL of them were still under glass. Still, with my mind already expanded, I found (just like the manufacturers wanted!) that their current cameras were more interesting than I'd imagined.

Read more

Kamerar's D-Fuse: Light Modifiers for Aputure's Excellent Amaran LED Panel

It was Aputure's $299 Amaran HR672C  [B&H|Amazon], an ipad-sized, bi-color LED panel with high color accuracy, wireless remote control, and dual Sony NP style batteries all tucked away in a small travel case that put the final nail in the coffin of my ARRI Softbank IV Fresnel Lighting kit. I kept pestering the guys at Aputure to bring out some light modifiers for it, which they subsequently did with their $49.95 EZ-Box and Grid combo  [B&H|Amazon]. Now accessories manufacturer Kamerar further burnishes the Amaran line's reputation with their own dedicated versions of these modifiers for the same light, the $29.95 D-FUSE Soft box [B&H|Amazon] and $24.95 Grid [Amazon]. They're easier to set up and take down than Aputure's originals, but they're not without issue either.

Read more

Sony's Z150: Son of the RX10 III and the FS5 -- and Shockingly Good. But You Shouldn't Be Surprised

Want the 4K, all-in-one convenience, and reach of the non-interchangeable lens zoom of an RX10 Mark III; the 10-bit 4:2:2 HD, long battery life and freedom from worrying about thermal shut-down or 30 minute recording limit of the Sony FS5; and a price and image quality that splits the difference?  Welcome to the Sony Z150.

Read more

RX100 Mark V, Part 1: First Images, First Footage, First Thoughts (What Would HCB Do?)

I had the opportunity to go hands on for a short period of time with Sony's new RX100 Mark V ($998 at B&H) at their NYC press event. At some point I switched over from JPEG extra fine to RAW, only to realize once I started loading the files onto my computer that Lightroom, Photos and even Capture One do not yet have the RAW driver. So: JPEG's only for the moment - I will add once the drivers are available.

Read more

Secced Reach Plus 1 Tripod: Inspired by German Company Sachtler, Priced by Chinese Capitalism - But No One's Sitting Still

The Reach Plus 1 is a Sachtler-inspired tripod kit from Chinese manufacturer Secced. It also competes against my own Cartoni Focus HD -- even though the Cartoni has much higher payload maximums -- because it demands to be taken seriously and my A-cam is the light weight Sony a6300. How well does it succeed (geddit)? Read on.

Read more

Sony FS5 RAW Upgrade: A Conversation with -- and footage by -- Doug Jensen

Doug Jensen has been a cameraman and DP for over 30 years, which makes him an expert -- and still younger than me. His video tutorials on Sony FS7 and FS5 are required viewing in my book if you're even thinking about purchasing either one. It was with this background that I reached out to Doug (we'd communicated by email and spoken a couple of times over the phone) to see if he'd be interested in having a conversation about Sony's new FS5 RAW Upgrade. A month later, Doug and I finally met in person at Maine Media Workshops just as he was finishing a class he teaches in cinematography.

Read more

2016 Travel Camera of the Year: A Plane Ticket

Maybe you thought it was going to be something like the Sony RX1-R II, RX 100 Mk IV or Sony RX10 Mk III; Leica Q; Panasonic GX85; the newly-announced Canon M5; or maybe the iPhone 7 Plus. All of them -- and many more, most likely including whatever you already have -- are capable of exceptional imagery in the right hands. Use the money to get your learn on in the real world instead. Isn't that what travel's about?

Read more

Canon 5D Mark IV: End of the DSLR Era

It has taken four and a half years for Canon to announce the successor to the 5D Mark III, an eternity given today's much shorter product cycles from competitors like Sony and Panasonic. What does the 5D Mark IV tell us about where Canon and the industry are headed? Who is it for? Should you get one? With guys like Tony Northrup (my favorite imaging blogger) and bud planetMitch over at planet5D having already gone hands-on -- and taking a few pages from other industries and other things happening in ours -- we have a really good idea about the answers.

Read more

Three Days with a Pile of E-Mount Lenses, an a6300, an a6000, an RX10 III, an iPhone 6s+, and a Couple of Bags: What Better Way to Stress Gear than at a Presidential Nominating Convention?

It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, but this time (unlike in April) I wasn’t official press. Forget about a tripod or monopod - Secret Service rules prohibited even selfie-sticks. Forget about a lot of glass, especially long, fast glass: not only would everything have to be hand-held, but those same rules stipulated no backpacks and no bags bigger than 18” x 13” x 7.” And then there were the closed-door meetings where even if I had been press, no press were allowed. Traveling small, light and unobtrusive were the orders of the week. Heads-up: this is a post about gear -- not politics -- but if you don’t want to see photographs from the Democratic National Convention in Philly (along with protests) you’d better stop reading here.

Read more

Zacuto: Bullet-Proof but Evolving

When I received a demo unit from Convergent Design of their RAW-enabled Odyssey 7q+ 4k recorder/monitor combo, I finally had the basic pieces -- along with the Sony FS5 and RAW upgrade -- to do a long-awaited review. But when I thought through the test scenarios and other gear I might need, I reached out to Zacuto, a highly regarded "Made in America" filmmaking accessories manufacturer founded by working pros to help me pull it all together. The RAW review is still in the works, but I thought I'd take time in the interim to review the Zacuto gear used in the project. It quickly became a reflection on broader industry trends and how small U.S. manufacturers can respond.

Read more

SmartSLIDER Reflex S: True Fluid Drag in a Robust Yet Light Slider

I wonder if sliders for some of us are like gear bags for others: we keep looking for the perfect one. The SmartSlider Reflex S is the first slider I've used which has a separate variable drag control. The slider is robust, and the drag control works. It's a fascinating and worthy alternative to the sliders I have: Cinevate's Duzi, and Syrp's Magic Carpet.

Read more

Sachtler Ace Follow Focus: Exceptionally Straightforward and Complete

In this penultimate episode of our series on Sachtler gear -- our first exposure to this legendary German company's products -- we take a peek at their follow focus unit, available separately  or as part of the complete and beautifully integrated Ace accessories kit (which also includes their matte box and base plate). At $630 for the follow focus alone, it's just over three times the price of my edelkrone FOCUS ONE, but spoiler alert: if it fits with the rest of your gear, I think it's worth it.

Read more