03Jun Panasonic GH4 support in Adobe camera raw 8.5 release candidate for CC
If you’ve been using the Panasonic GH4 for stills as well as video you’ll be happy to know that Adobe’s latest Camera raw 8.5 release candidate now supports the GH4 as well as a number of other cameras. While the release candidate is only prerelease software it will at least provide an alternative to the bundled SILKYPIX software included with the camera. Unfortunately I don’t think will be seeing an update to Lightroom until sometime in August. Still, somethings better than nothing I guess.
02Jun Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 For Sony a7s – Preorder
I haven’t owned or used any Mitakon lenses, but their new Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 looks like a pretty sexy prospect. Up until now the only full frame lens that came close to f/0.95 is the legendary Canon 50mm f1.0 which is why the a 5omm f/0.95 lens for $899 looks so attractive. The question is, do you really need F/0.95?
Personally the first thing that came to mind was “I want this lens!”, but after I got that out of my system my brain began to kick in. It seems to me that a lens like this will pick up two types of buyers. The first would probably be someone who is looking for their first very “fast 50” at a somewhat “reasonable price” (not that $899 is extremely affordable). After all a 5omm f/0.95 lens for $899 is still around $400 to $500 less than the Sony Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.4 and $100 less than the Sigma 50mm f1.4.
Second is the person who irrationally wants an f/0.95 full frame lens. I have no real need for a lens with that wide of an aperture and for filmmaking even f1.4 can be very hard to use with a moving subject, but my immediate rebuttal to that is “But it’s f0.95!”.
If you look at the sample images on Mitkon’s site and check out one of the first reviews of the 5omm f/0.95 lens it looks a bit soft wide open the images have more of a vintage lens look. Still, if you don’t have a fast fifty and you’re moving to the Sony a7s the Mitakon is supposed to start shipping at the beginning of July. Your $899 will get you on the preorder list
, but I think I’ll wait and see how well my Canon 50mm f1.2 works out on the a7s before I start buying any Sony mount lenses.
31May Generic Canon EF to Sony NEX Smart Lens Adapter
As the release date of the Sony A7s looms large on the horizon, i’ve started looking at EF to Sony NEX lens adapters. The most obvious choice and the one I’ve had a chance to try out is the Metabones Mark III adapter. However, lately i’ve noticed that there are a few generic electronic adapters on the market.
These generic electronic adapters look pretty similar to the Metabones adapter at ruffly 1/4 of the price. You can pick up the generic version for around $95, while the Metabones Mark III adapter will set you back almost $400. Both appear to have metal adapter rings as well as a support mount, but i’m curious about the actual electronic control aspect of the unit.
I’m new to this whole Sony adapter business so I thought I’d ask for your input. Have any of you Sony users tried one of these generic adapters? Are these simply clones of the Metabones adapter? If so are they any good? Saving $300 on an adapter like this would be nice, but it really isn’t much of a benefit if the $95 model doesn’t work.
29May Canon 55mm f1.2 FD on the Panasonic GH4 raw files
A few of you were asking about the Canon 55mm FD f1.2 lens and what I meant when I said the lens is “slightly softer” and that the lens “lacks a few lens coatings”. So I thought I would give a few examples and post a few raw images from the GH4 so you can get a better idea of what this actually means.
Before I continue I would like to point out that I’m not a lens testing “expert”. While I can easily point out common effects seen in older lenses, I don’t know what nanocrystal coating, magnesium fluoride coating, or coating technology in general is used to correct these issues. However, if you’d like to find out more about lens coatings here’s a pretty good place to start.
This is a 100% crop from the Canon 55mm FD f1.2 lens shot on the GH4 from this raw file. The image was taken wide open at f1.2. If you pixel peep on this image (as we are doing right now) you can see that the letter “C” while readable is soft around the defining edges at f1.2. You’ll may also notice the slightly green fringing on the top of the letter. If you take a look at the raw file and zoom out to around 80% (rufly the UHD reduction to 3840) the “C” in Canon starts to look smooth and the color fringing basically disappears. Drop that down to 40% (ruffly 1080p) and you probably won’t notice anything at all.
The effect is often referred to as “creamy” and in the days of film some directors would even apply grease to the inside of their lenses in order to achieve this effect. What you’re seeing is just a lens made before the advent of all the modern coating technology and that’s why some like to label newer lenses as “sterile”. They are basically saying that the manufacture has sterilized the lens by killing all of it’s personality.
Because the Canon 55mm FD f1.2 lens is lacking a number of new coating technologies it is also very susceptible to lens flare (you can find the raw file here). In this case it only took a minor change in angle and a repositioning of the light source to create this dramatic lens flare effect across the image. If your name where J. J. Abrams you’d be asking for this sort of look in every 3rd shot. On the other hand, some people find the look ugly or unattractive.
Just because you’re using an older lens doesn’t mean you have to put up with lens flare. A lens hood or repositioned light will easily eliminate the problem. Just keep in mind that older lenses are more prone to lens flares, it’s part of their “personality”.
Lastly, lets take a look at how this affects your subject matter. In this case I startled Hero, the 4 pound pomeranian that tolerates me as a roommate (you can find the raw file here). All of the imperfections of this lens end up giving you a what I consider to be a pleasing image. It’s a little soft, but that does a good job of covering up some of Hero’s scruff and you don’t really notice any color fringing unless you zoom in on the raw file to 100%. Even then, Hero looks pretty good for a 11 year old pomeranian (good job Hero).
Whether these effects look good or bad is a very subjective. You’ll have to decide for yourself if the personality of an older lens is the right fit for your collection. These effects are present in most lenses dating back to the 60’s, 70’s, and even the 80’s. I enjoy the look, but you might find it unattractive and it all boils down to personal taste.
Hopefully this gives those of you who were asking a better idea of the “look” you can expect from older glass. However, keep in mind that if you combine these lenses with Metabones speed booster adapters many of these effects are lessened thanks to the focal reduction process making the lens optically closer to it’s newer brethren.
29May ASUS 28″ 3840×2160 4k 60hz monitor coming june 10th
If you are in the market for a 4k (UHD 3840×2160) 60hz panel and you weren’t happy with the build quality of the Samsung U28D590D 4k monitor you might want to take a look at the Asus PB287Q 28″ monitor. It’s basically the exact same screen crammed into a much better stand and case combination for $50 more than the Samsung U28D590D.
As you can see from the video above (from youtube member PCPER), the Asus panel is much more stable and comes with a VESA mount. That’s a pretty good upgrade for $50. You can pre-order the Asus PB287Q 28″ monitor for $649 with free shipping on B&H right now and they are expected to start shipping on June 10th. I’m guessing we’ll see the price spike up to $750 or so once they start shipping just like the Samsung U28D590D 4k monitors did, so a pre-order is probably your best bet.
I’ve been pretty happy with the Samsung so far and image quality on these two panels are going to be exactly the same, but I would have gladly paid the extra $50 for a nicer stand and the VESA mounting option. The Samsung panels are still selling for $597 on ebay if the stand isn’t that important to you, but the Asus PB287Q looks like a pretty big improvement in design and quality for the price.
28May Canon 55mm f1.2 FD on the Panasonic GH4
I was half heartedly looking at the Voigtlander 42.5mm f0.95 a few weeks ago as my next m4/3 prime lens purchase and that got me thinking about the Canon 55mm f1.2 prime lens I have in my EOS-M kit. At around $300 used
the Canon FD 55mm f1.2 is about $700 less than the Voigtlander 42.5mm f0.95 and not extremely far off in terms of focal length. Add to that a $17 adapter and you’ve got a pretty decent deal on a manual focus prime lens for the GH4.
Thanks to the more compact design of FD lenses, the Canon 55mm f1.2 prime lens avoids look like an elephant riding a unicycle when attached to the GH4 body. Even with the inch or so added by the adapter, the Canon 55mm f1.2 isn’t much larger than the Voigtlander 25mm f0.95. If you do decide to use larger FD lenses the adapter has a nice little mounting plate on the bottom that reduces the strain on the GH4. That’s a good thing to have if you’re using something like the Canon FD 35-105 f3.5 lens.
Another thing to note is that you always have the option of adding a Metabones FD to M4/3 adapter in the future. That reduces the focal length by .71x (78mm instead of a 110mm on an m4/3 body), increases the max aperture by an extra stop, and improves image quality which puts the 55mm f1.2 on a level playing field with the Voigtlander 42.5mm f0.95 and still save you a few hundred dollars.
The Canon 55mm f1.2 prime lens I have is one of the older versions (if I remember correctly) which is why the focus ring looks a little different. This older version is supposed to be slightly softer wide open and lacks a few lens coatings that were added to lenses made after 1973. Still, for the price it’s definitely worth considering. If you’d like a few image samples of the 55mm f1.2 you can find more info here in this earlier post.
27May Panasonic GH4 on a 1/4 20 Mic stand mounting adapter
I know the Panasonic GH4 is a lightweight compact camera, but this really shows how little it takes to support it. I wanted to position the GH4 above a table for some quick 4k hands on product shots, but none of my tripods really allow me to get the camera into the right position. Normally I wouldn’t trust a DSLR camera on a mic stand but the GH4 is light enough that I thought I’d give my boom mic gopro mount a try.
While I wouldn’t recommend this for anything heavier than the Panasonic GH4 and Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 combo i’m using, the 1/4 20 to mic stand adapter had enough holding power to handle it. A decent mic stand can be had for around $24 and the adapter will set you back about $10 for a total price of $34. That’s a pretty good price for something that gives some very flexible mounting options.
Just keep in mind that this is a $2600 camera/lens combo on a $34 stand. While it does work you might want to consider putting a sandbag or a weight on one of the tripod legs to keep things stable. All it would take is someone tripping over one of the legs to send your camera crashing to the ground. That’s not a big deal with a gopro hanging off the end but it could be an expensive lesson if your Panasonic GH4 takes a dive.
24May Chargercity DSLR Smartphone Hot Shoe Mount Review
As you can see from the video, the DSLR Smartphone Hot Shoe Mount adapter has a pretty strong grip for a spring loaded clamp. I wouldn’t have any problem trusting this as an attachment point for a smartphone or the TP-Link wireless router on a rig. If you are looking for a car or motorcycle mounting option you might want to check out the RetiCam mount Mathias mentioned in the comment section earlier this week. It’s a little more expensive ($25) and it doesn’t include a cold shoe adapter but it is made out of machined aluminum and uses a threaded thumbscrew clamp for mounting.
Overall I’d say the DSLR Smartphone Hot Shoe Mount adapter clamp is pretty decent for the price. The only real complaint (also mentioned in the video) I have is the placement of the adjustment ball. While it does allow you to rotate, it would be nice if it faced up instead of out. That change would give you a few more positioning options for your phone. Of course you could always add a friction arm to the bottom of the unit if you need more flexibility.
23May Swivl pan and tilt Multipurpose robotic platform – First impressions
Short rant about Kickstarter
Before I dive into the Swivl, first a little note about kickstarter.
You might have noticed that I no longer post much about new camera related kickstarter projects. That’s because out of the 9 or so projects I’ve backed so far only three projects went off without a hitch. Four had major delays (like the Swivl above), one had a lawsuit against the manufacture, and one was just plain junk. While I like the idea of kickstarter, it’s not a place to shop for something cool, it’s a place to invest your money and hope for something cool. You might eventually get something and you might save some money, but it’s a roll of the dice as to how long it’ll actually take to deliver and what the final product will look like. It doesn’t matter how cool the idea is when it takes more than a year to show up, things change and the market moves on.
The Swivl
The Swivl finally showed up last week after more than a year of waiting (the project fully funded January 2013). As one of the early backers I was able to get the Swivl with a remote and case for just $149, that’s a little under half the retail price. Even though the delays on delivery where disappointing, I personally ended up getting a good deal even if the project is half baked.
There were a lot of great ideas and plans for apps to go along with the Swivl but I don’t think we’ll be seeing any of those in the near term and the apps that are currently available are lackluster at best. For some this is a big disappointment but for me the apps were only secondary to the motion tracking feature.
While the original intent of the Swivl was tablets and smartphones, they’ve managed to retrofit a plastic quick release plate and an adapter mount for the unit. It isn’t exactly ruff and tumble and they had to make sacrifices with the internal gears that limit the maximum weight capacity. In my short amount of testing, the Swivl seems to do ok with the Panasonic GH4 and the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 lens but I don’t think I’d attempt a 5d mark III with anything much bigger than a Canon 50mm f1.4 on this guy.
The included case feels premium but the unit itself feels very plastic and fragile. I know the platform is designed to pan and tilt but when you pick it up, things seem to flex a bit in the hand. For the $149 I paid it’s not that big of an issue, but for $300 there are much more rugged options like the Soloshot on the market. The Soloshot might not have all of the smartphone and audio possibilities but it’s much more rugged and has a higher weight capacity for the same price.
Where the Swivl will hopefully shine is the audio features built into the remote. Not only does the remote have a built in microphone, but it also supports powered lav mics. I haven’t tested this feature yet, but if it works well I could see this being a very nice option for public speeches and classroom recordings.
I’ll post some more on the Swivl once I’ve had a chance to play with it a little more. Going to spend my 4 day holiday weekend catching up on reviews and playing around with some new gear that’s been neglected. I’ll keep you posted.
22May Samsung 4k monitor U28D590D $597!
The price of the Samsung U28D590D 4k monitor has been all over the place and today is no exception. Right now on ebay you can find the Samsung U28D590D 4k panel for just $597 with free shipping. The price is great but keep in mind this is shipping direct from Korea, so you’ll have to change the monitor to english when it shows up and you might have to rangle up a replacement power cord. Still that’s not to bad for a $100 price savings over the current pricing on Amazon.
