Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II - lone standout in another boring bunch of camera announcements

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

With the recent spate of new camera announcements, one might have expected something new from the major manufacturers on the video front.

Not so fast.

Yes, Canon now offers a new super high resolution full frame still camera to compete with the Sony A7r - but it offers nothing new for video.

There's a new version of the mirrorless Canon EOS M - but they won't be selling it in the States.

Samsung has announced the NX500, a new 4K mirrorless NX-1 "mini me" for a great price - but they've stripped the NX1 not only of its viewfinder and headphone jack  - but also its microphone input. Fail.

And the new Canon T6i has now caught up with 2013-era still/video cameras, adding wi-fi and fast video autofocus (but still no 1080/60p - and, of course, no headphone jack).

In my view, the only recent announcement that might be exciting for filmmakers is the new $1099.99 list Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II. With its 5-axis stabilization, new fully articulated LCD, 1080/24p/60p, 50mbps bit rate and headphone jack, Olympus finally appears to be taking video seriously.

The handheld walking clip at 9:10 in The Camera Store's review of the E-M5 Mark II is very impressive:




Except for the 30 minute continuous clip length limit, the OM-D E-M5 Mark II is now very competitive with the Panasonic GH3 for videography and filmmaking. Links for pre-ordering the silver (or black) Mark II are up now at Amazon and Adorama.

Unfortunately for Olympus, the GH3 is a two year old camera and the street price is now below $800. In my view, Oly is going to have to step up its game just a little more to catch Panasonic in the hybrid still/video race.

My suggestion - a 4K version of this camera (with 5-axis stabilization) that lifts the 30 minute continuous recording limit.  Such a camera would certainly give Panasonic's GH4 a run for its money. OM-D EM1 Mark II, anyone?

All of that said, despite the good news from Olympus, the other major manufacturers don't seem interested in fixing the problems that still bedevil video-capable large sensor interchangeable lens cameras in 2015, e.g. weak codecs (no in-camera RAW), rolling shutter, no XLR inputs, the lack of built in stabilization, no affordable power zooms and no built-in NDs.

The Blackmagic URSA comes close, but it has no stabilization, no NDs and it's a 20 lb. camera.  The JVC GY-LS300 looks like it produces high quality, gradeable 4K video - but it lacks internally recorded RAW and a global shutter (as does the Sony PXW-FS7).

What we need is a "usable" (10 lbs or less) Blackmagic Camera with a viewfinder, stabilization and compatibility with Panasonic power zooms - or an affordable Canon Cinema EOS camera with RAW, a global shutter and a power zoom - or something like the FS7 from Sony with RAW and a global shutter.

Perhaps we'll see some progress at NAB.  I hope I can convince the Board Chair here at HCR to let me go this year :)

As always, if anything here has helped you to make a purchase decision, please shop using the links above or the displays below and in the margins. And even if you're not in the market for a new camera, please comment and make suggestions below. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep these posts coming.

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Panasonic Deals - GH3 body for $697.99 (plus $100 gift card); G6 with 14-42mm kit lens for $587.99!

I don't know how long these prices will last, but if you're a video shooter on a budget - or you're looking for a great video/still hybrid camera to give as a gift - here are a couple of great deals.

As of this post, the Panasonic DMC-GH3 (body only) is $699.99 at Amazon and $697.99 with a free $100 gift card at Adorama. This is the best 1080p hybrid camera you can buy below $1000.



If that's still above your budget limit, the Panasonic DMC-G6 with the 14-42m kit lens is just $587.99. This is the best entry level video/still hybrid camera on the market with built-in focus peaking, 19 step manual audio gain control and 1080/60p for smooth slow motion.  This camera compares very favorably with DSLRs that cost a lot more - it is a great value for the money.

Limited Time Sale - $300 off Panasonic GH3 - and $50 off the G6 with 14-42mm kit lens

The two best still/video cameras below $1000, the Panasonic GH3 and Panasonic G6, are now an even better deal.  For the next couple of weeks (while supplies last), the GH3 (body only) is marked down $300 to $797.99 - while the G6 with the kit lens is marked down about $50 to $697.99.

If you've been waiting for one or both of these cameras to come down in price, you may want to push your cart through before the price goes back up!

Selling my Pocket Cinema Camera for a GH4 - Why?

I still love my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. I have found ways to overcome its handling limitations (with an inexpensive LCD shade, a loupe and a pistol grip).



I have learned to combine its expanded image and peaking features for razor sharp manual focus, its small form factor is convenient and visually appealing, I absolutely love 10-bit ProRes and, now that the GH3 is back over $1000, the BMPCC is the only sub-$1000 camera with a headphone jack. So, why am I selling it to buy a Panasonic GH4?

Because the BMPCC is the last camera I pick up when I leave the house. On the other hand, I take the GH3, with its 'inferior' 8-bit codecs, everywhere I go. It turns out that I need to be able to shoot a high quality still photo every once in a while - and an iPhone just doesn't cut it for me. So, I guess I chose the right title for this blog. I am a hybrid still/video camera shooter, still looking for the "revolutionary" camera that can do it all. Is the GH4 that camera? Hopefully, we'll see in a few weeks.

If you're looking for a 12-bit RAW cinema camera for $899 and you're in in the SF Bay Area, click on one of the pictures above or this link to see my Craigslist post. If you prefer a new BMPCC, GH3 or GH4, please click on one of the links above or the display ads below. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help keep these posts coming. Thanks!

Final Rig Configuration for NAB 2014

The last piece of my "Frankenrig" arrived on Saturday - so here's the final configuration I'll be using for interviews and B roll on the show floor at NAB.

Instead of a static picture, as in my first post on "Frank", I shot a short video to point out all the pieces/parts - and try out my new Audio Technica AT8004L handheld mic (on sale for $89 plus shipping right now at Adorama).

This setup is for shoulder-mounted work and not really for mounting on a tripod, due to oscillation. But the ability to mount it on the tripod will still be convenient for interviews (and for giving my shoulder a rest).

And, given that it's NAB, there will probably be plenty of people with huge cameras and tripods walking around - so I won't look too strange.

If you have a mirrorless camera with an EVF, and you'd like to build your own in-line rifle style rig, the parts list is in the display ads below - or you can go directly to the video and order from the links in the "About" section.

Hope to see you at NAB!

My GH3 Rig for NAB

I finally broke down and bought a set of rails. I'll be doing some one-man band interviews and B-roll with my GH3, Sigma 18-50mm constant f/2.8 lens, Audio Technica AT835b mic and Hosa MIT-156 XLR to 3.5mm transformer adapter at NAB next week, and since I'll be putting a new F&V R-300 LED Ring Light in front of the camera, I needed a set of rails.

The least expensive option I could find was a set of $21 40cm/16-Inch rods with end caps, a $30 camera mounting plate, a $30 quick release, a $23 RainbowImaging pistol grip, a $7.50 Pixel remote cable for Panasonic cameras and a $35 convertible shoulder pad/shotgun rest.

Please subscribe to the blog to catch my updates from NAB next week - and I'll definitely let you know how the new rig works out!

GH4 Footage Starting to Arrive Before NAB

Panasonic DMC-GH4 with DMW-YAGH Pro A/V Interface Unit - $3298

We're starting to see more GH4 footage in advance of the big show. Here is a nice little fashion film from Mytherapy in London:




Here is the Behind-The-Scenes:




And for the pixel peepers in the audience (you know who you are), here is Andrew Reid's side-by-side between the GH4, GH3 , 5D Mark III (RAW and h.264) and D7100 . Please read Andrew's blog post after you watch the video:




In my view, the frame grabs at the bottom of Andrew's blog post tell the story. The reigning champ of micro-budget cinema, the Panasonic GH3, seems to have been decisively dethroned (especially now that prices have gone back up to list).

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera - and even the Sony RX10 - were mere pretenders to the throne. But now, the king is dead - long live the new king!

Panasonic Posts Autofocus Shootout Between GH3 and GH4

Here is an interesting marketing video on the GH4 's new autofocus system. Google Translate calls the video title "Spatial Awareness AF" when translated from Japanese. Panasonic's English language marketing folks, on the other hand, call it "Depth from Defocus" or DFD.

As I understand it, with DFD, the camera knows which Panasonic system lens is mounted, and compares a database of that lens' "blur" (or defocus) characteristics to the scene that it "sees" through the glass. It uses that comparison to calculate the distance to the subject and set the focus of the lens. With the GH4 's quad core processor, this process is almost instantaneous - advertised at 0.07 sec.

As the video demonstrates, this is noticeably faster than the GH3 - and may rival the awesome autfocus performance of the Canon 70D.



It will be interesting to see which lenses have their defocus characteristics programmed into the camera at rollout. It's almost certain that Panasonic micro 4/3 system lenses will be programmed in. How about Oly m.Zuiko lenses? Sigma micro 4/3 lenses? Classic 4/3 lenses with the MA1 adapter? If non-Panasonic lenses aren't in the database at the start, Panasonic should get them in as soon as possible. It would be a shame to limit this capability to Panasonic OEM lenses only.

Panasonic GH4 "Hands On" Videos

I don't usually post these, but there have been so few people with test cameras in their hands that we are reduced to noisy camera show (and camera store) "hands on" videos in order to see images of the camera outside of a display case.

From John Arnold of Photo Walkthough at the Photography Show 2014 in Birmingham, UK:



From Matt Granger at Photography News and Reviews:



In addition to the dearth of real hands-on videos, I have been a little surprised by the types of sample videos that Panasonic is using to promote the GH4.  For the GH3, they hired Bruce Logan A.S.C. and Philip Bloom to shoot Genesis, a terrific little narrative with near-Hollywood level production values.  This time, the only official sample videos I can find are travel and nature pieces.

Although these subjects are great opportunities to showcase the camera's amazing resolution, a sample film with actors and motion and a variety of day/night/outdoor/indoor shooting conditions is going to sell more cameras, in my view.

Panasonic - if you're listening - please lend a camera to Bruce Logan or Shane Hurlbut or Philip Bloom - or someone else with "ASC", "BSC" and/or "DGA" after their name - and pay them to shoot a Genesis-style short with the GH4 in full 4K.

If you can't afford to do that, or the timing isn't right, at least get a few more pre-production cameras into the hands of shooters and bloggers.  Eduardo Angel has posted some great 1080p samples - but with 4K footage from Sony and Blackmagic already on the street, potential GH4 shooters need more full-resolution examples of what this camera can do.

Even though it looks like pricing and pre-ordering is already available in Europe, we here in the States are still anxiously awaiting official pricing and the opportunity to pull the trigger on this camera.

If anything here has helped you to make a buying or pre-ordering decision - please click on the links above or the display ads below. And please support the sponsors who advertise in the margins of the blog. It won't cost you anything extra and it will help to keep these posts coming. Thank you for your support over the years.

Fuji X-T1 - A Second Look

After slamming this camera in an earlier post, I have become interested in it again for two reasons. First, after seeing the stunning RAW still photos that David Taylor-Hughes is getting out of it over on Soundimageplus, I thought - there is something special about this camera. And second, a lot of people around the 'net wondered whether this camera was worth buying - and I was curious too. Is this a still camera that is so good that it can overcome its video challenges - especially for casual video shooters? I had to find out.

So I went online and rented the camera body from lensrentals.com in Memphis and an 18-55mm f2.8-4.0 lens from borrowlenses.com in San Carlos, California. I've done business with borrowlenses a number of times and have had great experiences every time, but they didn't have the X-T1 yet, so I rented the body from lensrentals. Both companies are great, and I can recommend them without reservation.

I didn't intend to do a formal review - I just wanted to satisfy my own curiosity and answer a few questions from the community - but the X-T1 surprised me in several ways, both positive and negative, and I thought it deserved a blog post.  And yes, there are sponsored links and ads here to recoup the costs and time spent on these reviews - but nobody pays me to promote their cameras, and I do my best to point out both the pros and cons of every camera I write about.  Okay - enough of that, let's talk cameras.

LOOK AND FEEL

Of course, this is a matter of taste, but this camera is a joy to look at and to hold. My first SLR was a 1974 Minolta SR-T 101. It was all-metal, had physical knobs on top and zero hand grip (besides the pebbled finish on the body). I learned photography with this camera and it will always hold a special place in my heart.



I think Fuji psychoanalyzed people like me and designed the X-T1 to hypnotize us into pulling out our wallets.  It has easy to understand physical controls with the weight and balance of a real camera, not a plastic toy.  There are manual settings if you want them - and easy to understand automatic settings if you don't.  There are no pictures of flowers or children on the mode dial - in fact, there is no PASM mode dial at all  (not a big loss - my Minolta didn't have one either).  Instead, there's a big, locking ASA, er...ISO dial on the left of the viewfinder, a big, locking shutter speed dial on the right of the viewfinder and a big +/- 3EV exposure compensation wheel on the far right.  Rental cameras don't include manuals, but I didn't need one. For anyone who considers him or herself a photographer, this camera is very easy to use, straight out of the box, without drilling down into a bunch of menus.  There were a couple of challenges over the course of the test - but they were easily resolved by looking up the answers on the Fuji site - which brings us to...

SHOOTING WITH THE FUJI X-T1

Once I had charged the battery and inserted the SD card (formatted on the Sony RX10 I tested a few weeks ago - that review is still in the works) I powered the camera up and was immediately impressed by the clarity of the LCD.  Very nice.  It was indoors after dark, and both the LCD and the EVF did a good job in my lamplit room.  There was a little grain, especially when I used the focus assist (magnification) feature - but it was not bad.  The big problem wasn't the EVF/LCD's brightness - it was its flickering in response to video screens.  I happened to have the TV on, and the effect was not confined to the screen - it was reflected across one whole side of the room.

I pulled out my trusty Panasonic GH2 for a comparison of the same scene, and there was no flickering on the LCD/EVF at all. Turning the TV off solved the Fuji's problem - but it was an annoyance when trying to compose still photos.  I was concerned that this would affect the quality of video recorded indoors when there were screens around, so I recorded a few seconds of video at 1080/60p.  Thankfully, the flickering stopped as soon as I hit record.  Still - this is something Fuji needs to address.

That said, I shot a quick JPEG that first evening with the camera indoors in low light, all neutral settings, and here's what I came up with right off the bat:

Fujifilm X-T1 w 18-55, ISO1600, f2.8 1/20th sec, +0EV w flash

Here is what I got from the GH2 with the Olympus 11-22mm f2.8-3.5:

Panasonic GH2 w Oly 11-22, ISO1600, f2.8, 1/13th sec, +0.66EV

I have been shooting JPEGs with the Panasonic for a couple of years, and have made a couple of custom color adjustments to compensate for the camera's weaknesses.  Without these adjustments, the GH2's color reproduction is horrible. The X-T1, on the other hand, produces very accurate color reproduction straight out of the box.

The next morning, I changed lenses on the Panasonic.  The rest of these comparisons are between the Fuji X-T1 with the 18-55 kit lens, and the Panasonic GH2 with the 14-140 video-optimized kit lens (I would have shot this comparison with the GH3, but it has been at the Panasonic Service Center for a month(!) - more on this later).

When I tried to shoot a few pictures, however, I ran into my second challenge with the X-T1.  The numbering system on the Sony-formatted card started in the 900s - so the Fuji quickly ran out of file numbers and displayed a "Fuji Frame No. Full" message across the LCD.  A quick search of the Fuji support and contact center came up with this method for resetting the file numbers, so the problem was solved in 5 minutes.

This was completely my fault for not reformatting the card, not the camera's - but it was good to know that problems like this are fairly easy to solve.

For the rest of the weekend, I carried both cameras everywhere I went and found the X-T1 to be a joy to use. I didn't exercise every feature (e.g., burst shoting, wi-fi), but I did shoot both stills and video (I'll post the video samples later). Here are a few more comparisons of its still image quality with the Panasonic.

One of the landmines my son puts on the carpet to keep me from walking around barefoot in the dark:

Fujifilm X-T1 w 18-55, ISO800, f4.0, 1/5th sec, +0EV

Panasonic GH2 w 14-140, ISO1600, f5, 1/10th sec, +0.67EV

Conspicuous consumption at the local plaza:

Fujifilm X-T1 w 18-55, ISO800, f3.2, 1/45th sec, +0.67EV

Panasonic GH2 w 14-140, ISO800, f4.5, 1/25th sec, +0.67EV

Fujifilm X-T1 w 18-55, ISO800, f3.6, 1/50th sec, +0.67EV

Panasonic GH2 w 14-140, ISO800, f4.5, 1/30th sec, +0.33EV

Ducks trying to stay warm:

Fujifilm X-T1 w 18-55, ISO200, f4.5, 1/125th sec, +0.33EV

Panasonic GH2 w 14-140, ISO200, f5.6, 1/100th sec, +0.33EV

Ready to shoot video with "still" cameras:

Fujifilm X-T1 w 18-55, ISO800, f3.2, 1/50th sec, +0EV w flash

Panasonic GH2 w 14-140, ISO800, f4.5, 1/50th sec, +0.33EV w flash

BOTTOM LINE

In full auto mode, this camera is a fast shooter that produces great color and image quality. For manual shooters, it is very easy to customize - and, although I didn't use them much, the menus are well-organized and straightforward.

But lots of other cameras have fast autofocus, good lenses and great color. Some even have well-organized menus. What makes this camera different? Well, for me, it's the great APS-C X-Trans sensor in a conveniently-sized, solid body with a great viewfinder, a tilt-screen and "real photographer's" controls. If I were a still-only shooter, this would easily be my favorite modern camera.

But, sadly, I'm a hybrid still/video shooter, and, for video, this camera leaves a lot to be desired. Although the 1080/60 progressive frame rate is nice, it is limited to 14 minutes of continuous recording. Other limitations: there's no audio meter on screen while recording, there's no 1080/24p option and, in 2014, there's no excuse for this camera's non-standard 2.5mm mic jack. Good thing I had a couple of Hosa GMP-467 3.5mm to 2.5mm right angle adapters left over from when Panasonic cameras were saddled with this same foolish design decision.

Overall, this camera is a 9+ for stills and a 7 for video - fantastic for still shooters who want X-Trans color straight out of the box - and who want to control their cameras without drilling down through a bunch of menus.

But still/video hybrid shooters should probably wait for the GH4 . That's what I'm going to do (although it was a little sad to pack the X-T1 up for shipment back to Memphis). So long, little buddy, it was fun while it lasted. I'm going to miss you.

If you're primarily a still shooter, and this review has helped you to make a buying decision, please click on one of the links above or the display ad below.  It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep these blog posts coming.  Thanks!