Take part in a draw to win $9000 worth of camera gear! Find out how – the first live prize draw is happening very soon in the YouTube live stream above.
Together with Syrp, Manfrotto and Freefly we are giving you a chance to win a massive amount of kit.
We’re giving away 5 prizes and that means more chances for you to win! All prizes are based around Renan Ozturk’s camera gear – learn more about him and his adventures by clicking here!
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In 2008, Olympus was teetering on the edge of photographic irrelevance, and Panasonic wasn’t a serious player in the camera industry. All that changed, however, when the latter launched a brand new mirrorless interchangeable lens system, dubbed Micro Four Thirds, with the Panasonic Lumix G1, released towards the end of that year.
While the G1 and Micro Four Thirds was technically not the first mirrorless camera (that would be the Epson R-D1), one could consider it the Ford Model T of this style of camera, a sort of mirrorless for the masses.
The system was formed as a partnership with Olympus, with both companies producing cameras and lenses that worked with one another (others, such as Blackmagic and whatever was left of Kodak would join later). The system itself was a miniaturization of the existing Four Thirds standard, a format championed by Olympus that ran a distant third to the APS-C and full-frame sensor sizes popularized by the two largest camera manufacturers, Canon and Nikon. The sensor size is physically smaller, about half the size of a full-frame camera such as a Canon 5D Mark IV, but Olympus and Panasonic bet that size, weight, and cost advantages, as well as an open format for other companies to adapt and use in their cameras would outweigh the physical disadvantages inherent in a smaller sensor, such as a noisier image.
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With Photokina behind us and the unprecedented amount of new cameras and lenses announced over the past few months, we’ve had some time to let the dust settle, and there is something very interesting about just how differently Canon and Nikon are approaching the full frame mirrorless camera market. The question is: who is right?
Over the past few months, both Canon and Nikon have released their first full frame mirrorless cameras, Canon with the EOS R and Nikon with the Z7. Canon markets the EOS R as a sort of prosumer/enthusiast-level camera along the lines of the 6D Mark II and priced to match at $2,300 for the body — very similar to the 6D Mark II’s price on release. This contrasts the Nikon Z7, which is being touted as a sort of mirrorless D850, and its $3,400 price tag suits this comparison very well.
While two cameras having different prices isn’t interesting, when we take a deeper look into their currently available, upcoming, and rumored lenses, we can see the different approaches that Nikon and Canon are taking with their mirrorless full frame cameras. Alongside Canon’s enthusiast-level camera, they have released four lenses: the 28-70 f/2L zoom, the 50mm f/1.2L, the 24-105 f/4L, and the 35mm f/1.8 Macro. If you notice, three of those four lenses are L branded, Canon’s professional-level branding.
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There are a couple of new interesting deals for filmmakers available. We selected the best 10 offers of filmmaking gear from our partners’ online shops for this week. Including the Canon 1DX Mark II, a ZEISS ultra wide-angle lens, Litepanels LED lights, a case for the DJI Ronin-S, a Dell Alienware laptop and more.
I went through the current deals on our partners’ websites and selected the top 10 offers currently available, which I think could be interesting for you. First, there are B&H offers listed for our readers based in North and South America and then a couple of deals from our European partner CVP. By shopping at our affiliate partners’ stores you are supporting cinema5D through our buy links, as we get a small affiliate commission when a purchase is completed.
Now, let’s take a look at this week’s top 10 deals for filmmakers:
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The Kandao QooCam is a handheld 360 and 180 3D VR camera that creates great looking VR video for social media. Check out our Kandao QooCam review and test videos.
Kandao is one of the most innovative players in the VR camera space at the moment. This is an increasingly contested and fast developing market at the cutting edge of computational photography’s disruptive infiltration towards the mainstream.
The QooCam comes from the makers of the Obsidian Go, Obsidian R and Obsidian S 8K and high speed 360 VR cameras. We’ve covered a number of recent developments from Kandao here on cinema5D including the recent 8K VR live streaming demonstrated at IBC. We also covered the announcement of the QooCam back in May.
Before getting too deep, here are the sample videos shot with the QooCam.
Below are the videos I shot while in Istanbul and in L.A. The top video is 3D 180, and the bottom video is 360. If you’re not set up for the full VR viewing experience, I recommend watching these on your phone rather than desktop, you’ll be able to move your phone around as a virtual window on the scene.
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Following up Nikon’s big mirrorless announcement, Nikon also announced a much-anticipated F-mount lens: the AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR super-telephoto lens.
UPDATE: Pre-orders now available.
Nikon’s newest super-telephoto is another addition to its PF series of lenses that use a phase fresnel lens element in order to reduce the size and weight of what would otherwise be a much larger lens similar to more traditional fast, super-telephotos. The maximum diameter of this 500mm f/5.6E PF lens is 106mm, and it’s just 237mm long. It weighs about as much as the AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR lens, which is quite a feat for a lens with such reach. Most fast 500mm lenses weigh about twice that much. Naturally, this lens features Nikon’s dust- and drip-resistance as well as a fluorine coat on the front element to help repel dirt and moisture (and to also make it easy to clean).
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Nikon is finally here with its first professional, full-frame mirrorless cameras: the Z6 and the higher-megapixel Z7.
UPDATE: Pre-orders now open. Order now to get in line before everyone else.
We’ve waited for a long time for this, and now, after watching Sony from afar, tonight Nikon announced its answer to Sony’s rather successful a7- and a9-series cameras. The Z6 is Nikon’s low-light, mid-resolution body, high frame-rate body while the Z7 is a high-resolution equivalent. Alongside the Z-mount system, Nikon also introduced a new AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR compact, super-telephoto lens with the standard F-mount. But let’s dive right into the specifications for the Z cameras.
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Finally – today is the release day for the new DJI Mavic 2 drones. The DJI Mavic 2 Pro with integrated 1″ sensor Hasselblad camera and Mavic 2 Zoom, the world’s first foldable consumer drone with optical zoom capability. Both drones offer lots of smart features, flight time of up to 31 minutes and a more stable video transmission system.
The new DJI Mavic 2 Drones. Source: DJI
Every drone enthusiast was waiting for this. The day when DJI releases their new Mavic 2 drone. That day is today! As we already know since a month ago – DJI is not revealing one new drone, but two new drones. Number one: Mavic 2 Pro, the world’s first drone with an integrated Hasselblad camera. Number two: Mavic 2 Zoom, the world’s first foldable consumer drone with optical zoom capability. Both drones share the same foldable body design and offer a flight time of up to 31 minutes as well as a more stable video transmission system.
When the original DJI Mavic Pro (our review here) came out in 2016, it caused a small revolution in the drone world – it featured an unprecedented combination of portability and image quality. With its foldable design it fitted in every bag and made drone shooting accessible to masses. Even despite its low bitrate of 60Mbps, and therefore not so great dynamic range, it carried much more strengths and is still a very popular product, to this day.
New DJI Mavic 2 Series Drones. Source: DJI
In january 2018 DJI presented Mavic Pro’s smaller brother – the DJI Mavic Air (hands-on video here, Mavic Pro comparison here). It featured a higher bitrate of 100Mbps in a smaller, lighter and more affordable body. There were, however, some trade-offs when compared to the older Mavic Pro. For instance, the lower range due to different wireless technology used (OcuSync in Pro vs Extended Wifi in Air).
Both the Mavic Pro and the Mavic Air shared the same 1/2.3″ sensor. The field-of-view of the lens was 26mm (full frame equivalent) with the Pro and 24mm (full frame equivalent) with the Air.
The DJI Mavic 2 Pro features the brand-new camera module which DJI co-engineered with Hasselblad. The partnership with the medium format photography pioneer is very clear, as the Mavic 2 Pro proudly carries the Hasselblad logo right above the lens.
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In this review, I’m testing the new PolarPro Quartzline ND 64 filter and PolarPro ND16 / PL (polarizer) filter. Those filters are made of 99.9% fused quartz to ensure optical clarity with a very low refractive index. The frames are built from machined brass to ensure they thread on smoothly – very essential as I have experienced seized up filters from aluminium frames myself already. A very nasty experience …
PolarPro claims a neutral color balance, zero color shift and near perfect transmission by the optical coatings. For more information about the available filters and sizes, please head to Richard’s article.
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Hasselblad has launched its new XV lens adapter, which lets you mount old V system lenses on the new X1D-50c medium format mirrorless camera.
The XV adapter, which Hasselblad says “bridges its legacy and its future,” supports Hasselblad’s full lineup of C, CB, CF, CFI, CFE, F and FE lenses — it adds compatibility for over 60 lenses that range in focal length from 30mm to 500mm.
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Samsung today announced the new Galaxy Note 9 smartphone. Among its new features is Samsung’s “most intelligent camera yet” and a new Flaw Detection feature that will point out when your photos aren’t up to par.
The Note 9 features a dual camera on the back with a 12MP f1.5/f2.4 wide-angle lens (it has a dual aperture like the Samsung Galaxy S9) and a 12mp f/2.4 telephoto lens. Both lenses have built-in optical image stabilization. The front-facing camera is an 8MP f/1.7 unit.
“New revolutionary features make it nearly impossible to take a bad shot,” Samsung says. “The Galaxy Note 9 intelligently recognizes what you’re looking at, optimizing color settings like contrast, white balance, exposure, and more.”
And when you do snap a bag shot, the new “Flaw Detection” system will display notifications when it detects things like blinks, blurs, smudges (from dirty lenses), and backlighting.
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Sigma announced in February that their ART and Contemporary lenses would be coming to E-mount to a warranted level of excitement, but the wait for delivery has been rough on some. That wait, however, was over in June when Sigma started shipping the first 5 of the 9 announced E-mount lenses, and now three more are ready to go: 14mm F1.8 DG HSM, 70mm F2.8 DG MACRO, and 135mm F1.8 DG HSM Art lenses for Sony E-mount.
The Sigma Art lenses have been prized for their optical performance which should see no change in the native e-mount versions, but some of the other performance abilities have been dampened on Sony units due to the required Sigma Mount Converter MC-11. Sigma claims these abilities that should be realized in full with the new native models:
“…the new Sony E-mount models feature a newly developed control algorithm that optimizes the autofocus drive and maximizes the data transmission speed. In addition, these lenses are compatible with Sony’s Continuous AF (AF-C) and high-speed autofocus, which are not addressed by Sigma Mount Converter MC-11. Like MC-11, the lenses are compatible with in-camera image stabilization and in-camera lens aberration correction, which includes corrections for peripheral illumination, chromatic aberrations and distortion.”
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The Bright Tangerine Left Field 19mm Studio Quick Release Bridge Plate is a snap on, snap off bridge plate for ARRI Dovetail, compatible to ARRI and RED height standards.
High contender for the longest name in camera accessory history, the Bright Tangerine Left Field 19mm Studio Quick Release Bridge Plate initially surfaced around NAB last year, hidden under a few more-specific ARRI Alexa Mini accessories.
Bright Tangerine has now announced it as a stand-alone product, ready to pre-order.
There’s a fair amount of Bridge Plates out there; the ARRI dovetail has been one of the industry-standard camera plates in the professional market for years.
Yet most conform to the old school way of slide on/slide off mounting.
Whilst the slide function is fantastic for fine (and broad) tuning the balance of the camera rig, it can be a bit of a fiddle to completely removing or mounting the camera.
Snap plates have the standard for other plates for ages (Euro, Arca Swiss, Sachtler, Manfrotto), it’s interesting to see the lack of snap on/off function in the ARRI Dovetail-compatible market.
This is exactly where the Bright Tangerine Left Field comes in, it’s a bridge plate that has full slide function for adjustment, but can be removed by turning the lever further and lifting the camera straight off.
It does this at half the price of the similar ARRI snap plate – The CBP-1 Compact Bridge Plate.
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In our field, gear matters, and you’d have to have a bank balance bigger than your bank account number for you to acquire all you likely would want when the whim takes you. However, if you keep your ear to the ground like we do, you come about the best photography deals currently on the market, and within our Deal Dashes, we share them with you:
Summer started with a bang when it came to gear deals, as we saw some of the best we’d seen off peak holiday times on everything from mirrorless and DSLR bodies to lenses and cases and all else. Some of the best deals were for top-tier Nikon and Canon DSLR bodies with big rebates that came (for a limited time) with free first-party battery grips, which on their own go for anywhere from $300-$450. This is on bodies like the Nikon D500, D750, Canon 5D Mark IV, and 6D Mark II.
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If you’re like us here at cinema5D eagerly waiting for some news on the anticipated DJI Mavic 2 drone, Well, here’s some solid information for you: British digital retailer Argos issued their latest (print) catalogue and in it, alert readers found two brand-new drone models : The Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic 2 Zoom.
Cinema5D HQ actually received an invitation for an official event that should have taken place during July but this event has been postponed without any alternative date so far. So, now with everybody on the edges of their seats, let’s have a look at what surfaced in that aforementioned catalogue:
There will be not one but two models of the upcoming Mavic 2 drone and the difference lies within the actual camera gimbal. The so-called Mavic 2 Zoom will sport a 2x optical zoom (24mm – 48mm) while the Mavic 2 Pro will feature a Hasselblad camera with a 1-inch sensor but no zoom. You will have to decide whether Pro image quality or the flexibility of a zoom lens is your thing.
There’s no word on video recording capabilities. I assume 4K (UHD) recording but the amount of compression and the quality of the codec deployed are yet to be revealed. The gimbal itself doesn’t seem to be detachable, which is unfortunate but since we’re talking about a drone listed in the consumer section of the company’s lineup, it’s not surprising, really.
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Sony has multiple full frame mirrorless cameras on the market and Nikon is planning to unveil its first later this month, but it seems that having a pro-oriented mirrorless camera isn’t a prerequisite for doing well in the mirrorless market. Case in point: Canon is apparently already the #1 mirrorless camera company in Japan even before announcing its own rumored full frame mirrorless system.
Canon Rumors reports that in reporting its 2018 2nd quarter financial results recently, Canon claims that it has taken the #1 spot in mirrorless camera market share over the first half of 2018.
The APS-C Canon EOS M50 is apparently selling well enough to the masses to beat out the technologically impressive cameras by competitors such as Sony (which won “Camera of the Year” for the a9).
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As part of a $121M series D funding round, German manufacturer Leica –among others– invests in Light. The startup tech company focuses on multi-lens cameras which make massive use of computational imaging. With fresh money and the renowed Leica brand in their back, new fields of products are in plain sight.
Remember the Light L16 concept camera which actually became a reality in 2017? This pocket-sized camera is able to capture 52 megapixel snaps with 16 lenses (and therefore 16 sensors). All the individual images will be combined into one single 52 MP picture using computational imaging. Now, with another $121M at their disposal, the company wants to drastically expand their lineup.
If you’re still not sure about what exactly the L16 camera concept is, this quote by SoftBank’s Partner Akshay Naheta (SoftBank led this Series D funding) might clearify things:
Light is a world leader in computational imaging. By replacing mechanical complexity with digital sophistication, they have been able to drastically reduce the size, weight, and cost of traditional cameras. This has paved the way for a whole new era of intelligent imaging applications.
As a first product, and after three funding rounds in which Light raised a total of $64.7M, the L16 camera was announced in 2015 and released in 2017. The L16 is a pocket-sized 52 megapixel beast of a camera. In terms of video it’s capable of shooting 4K video but it only uses single lenses out of its 16-lens arsenal. Choose between 28mm, 70mm or 150mm. No image-fusion in video mode, at least not yet.
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Fujifilm has announced two new lenses for its X Series line of mirrorless cameras: an XF 200mm f/2 OIS telephoto lens and an 8-16mm f/2.8 ultra-wide-angle zoom lens. There’s also a new 1.4X teleconverter.
The new Fujinon 200mm f/2 OIS is Fujifilm’s first super-fast telephoto lens in the XF stable. It has a maximum aperture of f/2.0 and a 35mm equivalent focal length of 305mm.
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With the exodus of Canon users to Sony’s Alpha series, adapters have become incredibly important, particularly the Metabones V and the Sigma MC-11. Photographer Luis Gabriel Gerena has done a comparison and produced some slightly alarming — albeit very limited — results regarding sharpness when shooting with a wide angle lens.
It’s worth keeping in mind that Gerena’s results are based on just one comparison and one lens, so here’s our call to action: if you have access to both the Sigma MC-11 and the Metabones V, please perform your own test with your widest lens and post the results below.
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Nikon announced the development of a new AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens last month, but now we finally get a look at it thanks to an image posted to Twitter by Photographer Pavel Bednyakov, whose photograph makes it look like the new 500mm could be easier to hold than Nikon’s 200mm f/2.
If you’ve ever shot with the Nikon 200mm f/2G VR II (or the earlier version), you’ll likely remember how it was more or less at the limit of what could reasonably be handheld for longer periods of time. Essentially, the Nikon 200mm f/2 is to we normal humans as the 600mm f/4 is to Dwayne Johnson. But that’s what makes this new “PF” technology so exciting, as it enables this 500mm in development to be smaller and lighter than anything else before it.
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