17Mar DSLR FILM NOOB Podcast Episode 89
Episode 89 of DSLR FILM NOOB podcast is up. Mitch from planet5D.com joins me to discuss the Canon T6, Laowa 105mm f2, SD 5.0 and more.
You can find the show notes here. You can find the show on itunes here, Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above. You can also leave questions on reddit at r/dslr.
16Mar Sony a7s II on sale $2399
Looking for a Sony a7s II body? If so, they are currently on sale from Ebay seller electronicsvalley for $2399 with free shipping (from the untied states), which is about $600 less then you can find the Sony a7s II in other places.
$2399 is an excellent price and part of the reason I recently sold off my Canon 5d Mark III. I’d love to get back into the Canon camp, but at this point, I have too many requests for 4k (even if they don’t know what they are asking for). Hopefully, NAB will bring a 5dc with something other than mjpeg, but only time will tell. As of right now, the camera I have is the camera I use.
15Mar Robocam Review, multi-cam control of Panasonic cameras
Want to control multiple Panasonic GH4 cameras from a laptop via wifi? If the answer is yes, then you might be interested in checking out Robocam. Basically, this $40 program allows you to scan a wifi network for Panasonic cameras, then remote control them the same way you would when using Panasonic’s image app on your Android or iOS device. While this seems to be (at least partially) based on the user-created free version found here, Robocam seems a bit more refined, so I opted to spend $40 to test it out.
To test out Robocam, I picked up a HooToo Tripmate TITAN. If you aren’t familiar with it, the Tripmate TITAN is basically a battery powered wifi router that’s ruffly the size of a bottle of Tylenol. With it, I can set up a portable wifi network almost anywhere. While any home wifi network will due, early tests with Robocam on my home network proved to be unstable. This is probably due to the number of wifi devices connected to the network. While the Tripmate TITAN isn’t necessarily a requirement, having an un cluttered wifi network seemed to improve results.
Testing so far has been pretty basic. I set up a mobile network and password on the Tripmate TITAN, then connected both the Panasonic GH4 and LX100 via wifi. From there, I simply logged in via my laptop and start Robocam.
Robocam automatically detects both the Panasonic GH4 and LX100. After that, it is just a matter of clicking “connect camera” and you’re up and running.
Once you are up and running, you basically have full control over your supported Panasonic cameras. Menus provide most of the things you’d want to change in camera, battery monitoring is spot on, and click to focus works about 75% of the time. I’d like to say that Robocam is worth every penny, but in reality, it’s not perfect.
While testing, I could get both cameras to start recording at the same time on every try, but on several tests, I couldn’t get them to stop recording via the software control. AF seemed to work almost all of the time on the Panasonic GH4, but would sometimes cause the LX100 to zoom in rather than focus on a point. Some menu controls don’t actually do anything on either camera and sometimes a settings change via Robocam will cause the software to freeze for several seconds while the camera tries to respond.
Don’t get me wrong, Robocam does work, but it isn’t something I would take out on any kind of paying job. There’s some great potential here, they just need to work out the bugs. I would love to see a tested working list of routers and some optimum configurations recommendations. The demo videos make Robocam look great, but so far I would put this in the beta category. Hopefully, they’ll get some of these bugs worked out in the next release. Until then, I don’t think $40 is really worth it.
12Mar Kipon EF-MFT AF firmware update 2.6
I carry two M43 to Canon adapters with me when shooting on the Panasonic GH4, the Metabones speed booster and the Kipon EF-MFT AF adapter (above). One provides an APS-C field of view as well as more light for indoor shooting from my Canon glass and the other doubles the reach of lenses like the 135mm f2 while providing reliable AF performance.
While the Kipon doesn’t provide a focal reducer, it was the first adapter to provide good autofocus performance when using Canon glass on a GH4 body. It took Metabones almost 4 months to implement the same features after the Kipon EF-MFT AF adapter was released and that Metabones firmware update is actually what kept me from selling off my Metabones adapter.
The nice thing about both the Kipon and Metabones adapter is that both companies continue to release firmware updates. The latest version of Kipon firmware can be found here. The update improves AF for lenses above 135mm focal length and fixes issues with the original Canon 35mm f1.4. You can also find the latest Metabones firmware update here.
I’m glad to see that both companies continue to provide updates for their adapters. Now if I could just fix the rattling lens element in my $600 Metabones adapter, I’d be set. Quality control, it’s a good thing Metabones…
12Mar 4k for $469 Panasonic G7 is on sale again
If you are looking to start shooting 4k on a budget, the Panasonic G7 is now selling for just $469 through seller thepixelhub. While the G7 is missing things like clean HDMI out (while recording) and a headphone jack, the option to shoot 4k for $469 is pretty attractive and of course, it is also a formidable stills camera. The Panasonic G7 is well worth checking out if you are in the market.
10Mar DSLR FILM NOOB Podcast Episode 88
Episode 88 of DSLR FILM NOOB podcast is up. Mitch from planet5D.com joins me to discuss Lens prices, Helium drives, Sigma MC-11 adapter, A7s security cameras, and more.
You can find the show notes here. You can find the show on itunes here, Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above. You can also leave questions on reddit at r/dslr.
09Mar DSLR FILM NOOB Podcast Episode 87
Episode 87 of DSLR FILM NOOB podcast is up. Special Guest Dave Knop Joins Devin and I to discuss the Sigma 50-100mm f1.8, Panasonic 4k Camcorders, Nikon point and shoots, Clothesline clips and more.
You can find the show notes here. You can find the show on itunes here, Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above. You can also leave questions on reddit at r/dslr.
05Mar DSLR FILM NOOB Podcast Episode 86
Episode 86 of DSLR FILM NOOB podcast is up. Mitch from planet5D.com joins me to discuss the 4k 5d Mark IV rummors, New Canon Patent on moving sensor tech, Nikon’s new DL24-85, Tamron’s new 85mm f1.8 VC lens and more.
You can find the show notes here. You can find the show on itunes here, Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above. You can also leave questions on reddit at r/dslr.
01Mar Monoprice 2.4GHz Wireless Mic system $49.99
Over a Year ago, I put together the review above of the Monoprice 2.4Ghz Wireless mic system. It isn’t the best wireless system in the world but at the time of the review, it was a decent value for the price. Since then there have been a lot of clones on the market and most of them have been priced at the original Monoprice $99 mark.
With that in mind, Monoprice has dropped the price on this little guy to $49.99. While it isn’t the best system in the world, $49.99 is a heck of a good price for a starter setup like this. Watch the video and take a listen to the audio samples here. You might want to change out the lav mic and you should be careful of the very strong audio output, but for the price, it is a heck of a deal.
28Feb Saramonic Uwmic10 Dual body-pack 2 channel receiver now out
When I reviewed the Saramonic UwMic10 UHF system a few weeks ago, you could only buy a single transmitter and receiver set. This is odd when you consider that the receiver is capable of handling two channels simultaneously.
Saramonic has finally picked up production and released a dual transmitter two channel set. At $399 this UHF system is probably the best bang for the buck out there. There are still the issues of battery life, no stereo audio separation from a dual channel source, and the fact that this is running in the 600mHz band. That said, the Saramaonic UwMic10 system does sound great for the price. Check out the full review here.
