#self-funded independent documentary moviemaking

[karingottschalk]

How do I do this job well enough now when everything has changed so much, key staff members have been sacked and industry events have ended?

How do I do this job well enough now when everything has changed so much, key staff members have been sacked and industry events have ended?

Apparently earlier this week VideoCraft Sydney in the northern suburb of Artarmon, not too far away from where I live, held a free three-day event featuring Blackmagic Design, Apple, Eizo and Sony video production products featuring Australian director of photography and colour grading expert Ben Allan, ACS CSI. Videocraft Sydney, Blackmagic Design capture | experience | resolve event, March 23…

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: A German Filmmaker Who Captured the Poetics of Labor and the Legacy of Fascism

A Vision of Resistance: Peter Nestler, all images courtesy Deutsche Kinemathek. Still from Mülheim (Ruhr) (1964)

Known among a notable and notably small circle of filmmakers and cinephiles — most of them in Germany and Sweden — the wider film world is slowly getting its first look at Peter Nestler, a meticulous, poetic documentary filmmaker of time and its everyday echoes.

In his native Germany, Nestler has been celebrated by the likes of Jean-Marie Straub, Harun Farocki, and Hartmut Bitomsky, but neither their acclaim nor the increasing distinction of his work in documentary cinema — nuanced, yet exacting observations of politics, labor, oppression, and fascism that set him apart from his contemporaries not only in Germany, but much of the documentary scene of the post-war period — was previously enough to get his films much play, certainly not the sort he is currently enjoying.

Tate Modern presented the first major retrospective in the English-speaking world of Nestler’s work in November 2012, late recognition for the director, then 75. Now at age 80, The Film Society of Lincoln Center is continuing the gift-giving joy, presenting A Vision of Resistance: Peter Nestler, the first large retrospective dedicated to the filmmaker to be shown in the U.S., and Nestler himself is slated to be in person at a number of the screenings.

After 50 years and 60 films into his career, Nestler is just now enjoying a turn of very modest fame.

For a time, however, it was possible to think that Nestler was falling towards greater and greater obscurity, which was rather ironic for an artist whose films endeavor to redress the oversights of history, bringing the overlooked realities of oppression and place to greater notice. Nestler filmed his subjects so they may be seen, heard, known, and perhaps then changed — an approach Bitomsky has described as “finden, zeigen, halten” (finding, showing, holding). This practice of seeking and sharing stories, often focused on labor conditions, struggle, and historical wrongs, earned him a fair number of unfavorable critics, alongside the better known, favorable ones. From Greece (1965), which Nestler self-financed, was assailed with guffaws and brickbats for its perceived overly left-wing politics. One local paper called it a “communist botch-work.”

The film was effectively the end of any reliable German source of funding, and Nestler relocated to Sweden where he created works for SVT, the country’s public television broadcaster, while independently producing films on the side. But even there, Nestler came upon a limit. Får de komma igen? (1971), a film about neo-fascism in Germany and Austria, was suppressed by SVT, the subject of neo-fascism then being a thorny topic in Sweden. In an interview from 2012, Nester indicated “It [Får de komma igen?] was taken out [of the program] one day before the broadcast, because by then the board of directors had seen the film. It was a burning point that the social democracy had let the neo-fascism grow.”

If you’ve never heard of his name or his films, then, it’s far from your fault. (In this country, another impediment is competition for his name. Google “Peter Nestler” and the first and more frequent results you’ll receive are links to his internet doppelgänger: an accomplished jump rope artist.)

Still from Am Siel (1962)

With nine programs (22 films) scheduled across five days, A Vision of Resistance is a packed, make-up-for-lost-time series. Though for the most part organized by subject and theme, the opening program starts things off with two of the filmmaker’s earliest films: Am Siel (1962) and Essays/Aufsätze (1963). From the beginning, Nestler already had a strong sense of the subjects and themes he would go on to explore for the next 50 years, as well as the formal directions he would take to explore them.

A documentary of a small village on the coast, Am Siel is narrated by an old dike (voiced by Robert Wolfgang Schnell), the sentient floodgate wondering, assuming, and thinking aloud about the land, sounding like a nostalgic, bitter, even post-modern waterway. Early on in the film the sluice reflects: “I don’t know whether the village liked being filmed.” Essays follows a group of children from a small village, revealing the accounts of their day at school as told by the children themselves. While occasionally acting as narrator in his films, Nestler often turns over the role of talking head to the people in the films, letting those in front of the camera speak for themselves. Showing signs of the observational generosity and formalist structures he would employ in much of his later works, these early films are tremendously assured, rigorous starts for the then 20-something, self-described “poor as church rats” filmmaker.

Made the year after Essays, Mülheim (Ruhr) (1964) is a short, but great leap ahead, displaying a keener grasp of rhythm, time, and movement that would become signatures of Nestler’s later films — particularly demonstrated when he would cut between still and moving images. A wordless tour of the titular west German city of less than 200,000, it is a symphony of a small city, flickering through signs of looming industrialization to alight on moments of workaday beauty: a young girl dancing with fantastic abandon in a street; building interiors peopled with card players and folks drinking beer; smokestacks loitering in the background of cityscape views.

When Jean-Marie Straub wrote about this 14-minute documentary film, he turned to one of most celebrated filmmakers of his time for a point of comparison, pronouncing it Mizoguchiesque (i.e. comparable to Kenji Mizoguchi). In Straub’s mind, Mülheim (Ruhr) had less to do with the direct cinema revolution going on in documentary filmmaking in North America or Jean Rouch’s cinéma vérité and more with to do with the style and perspectives of narrative cinema. While not disagreeing with Straub, a different Japanese filmmaker came to mind when I first saw Mülheim (Ruhr): Yasujirō Ozu.

Still from In the Ruhr Region (1967)

In short, Nestler has a way of cinematically charging his films, drawing attention to textures, rhymes, boundaries, distances, and history — in particular the stuff of quotidian life that gets ignored or has been stifled and stilled. Some of this charge comes from his rhythmic and sometimes wryly coded editing style. In Ödenwaldstetten (1964) a shot of tractor is followed by one of a horse and carriage;  in a town whose whole Jewish community was destroyed, a faded Jewish name written on a building is followed by a shot of a man sweeping the streets. Some of it comes from the way Nesler will peer at the outside of a building in one shot and enter it in another — places and times are readily accessible realms in Nestler’s film worlds. And some of it simply comes from his commitment to see and show. Nestler himself has commented on his predilection to not let things simply be:

I tried to find the shortest way for me to show the most important aspects: to perceive, to recognize and to decide with others, this should be changed or that should be preserved or not be overlooked.

Other programs in the series include his “biographies of objects,” short studies on the art of various crafts (e.g. glass making); Up the Danube (1969), a celebrated short he created with his close collaborator and wife, Zsóka Nestler, and Pachamama – Our Land (1995), a feature length film on Ecuador’s indigenous communities.

Still from Pachamama – Our Land (1995)

Remaining constant across these five represented decades of moviemaking is Nestler’s interest in labor, in struggle and resistance, in what is valued and what is discarded. Nestler, though, is focused on more than just seeing the world for what it is, and on more than preserving some part of it with his camera. The past is never far removed from the present in the reframed worlds of Nestler’s films.

His concern with history and the past is, in part, why fascism abounds in his films. He has hunted down traces of fascism for decades since first making Am Siel. Its village, he discovered, featured a war monument adorned with a medal awarded by Nazis. He later found traces of it in his own family, in his Swedish grandfather, Count Eric von Rosen, whose life — and eventual support of Nazi Germany — he profiles in Death and Devil (2009). It’s not for our future’s sake, his films argue, that we should know our history, it’s for a deep-rooted view of the past. Obviously a political filmmaker, Nestler is also a moral one.

A Vision of Resistance: Peter Nestler screens from June 24 to 28 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center (165 W. 65th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan).

The post A German Filmmaker Who Captured the Poetics of Labor and the Legacy of Fascism appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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[karingottschalk]

“… Neutral Density Filters are a necessary tool for exposure control, but does their price tag really affect their quality? Today Griffin sits down with 23 ND filters that range in different price tiers from $5 all the way to $580 to see! Today we hard tested 23 ND filters for their color and image quality, flare resistance, and their usefulness in timelapse situations. We test a range of ND’s [sic] from a set of general purpose ND3 filters, to Variable Density Filters, to heavily graded ND10 filters for their use in time-lapse photography. While every type of ND filter has it’s own use, we mainly set out to see if the price tag really affected image quality, and whether variable ND’s were much worse than single glass ND’s. …”

Breakthrough Photography’s brass traction-framed ND and other filters are a boon for those of us with damaged hands and fingers and are safer to handle in the field than smooth or slightly knurled aluminium frames.

Commentary

Paul Leeming’s stripped-down Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K aka BMPCC 4K rig with 8Sinn cage, Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 zoom lens, Metabones Speed Booster, Kenko aluminium step-up ring, Xume magnetic filter attachment system and Formatt Hitech Firecrest Ultra fixed neutral density filter.

Independent moviemaker and Panasonic Lumix brand ambassador Griffin Hammond’s documentary production insights and training have proven invaluable over the years since I invested in Lumix Micro Four Thirds cameras primarily for video.

The previous incarnation of the recently rejuvenated Indy Mogul YouTube channel not so much but that looks set to change now that it has been taken over by Ted Sim of the Aputure moviemaking equipment company and Griffin Hammond himself.

I don’t know anything about Mr Sim, Aputure and its products at the moment but Mr Hammond is a different story, having finally met him at the last SMPTE Sydney after following his video work online for some time.

Clearly it is past time to look into Aputure’s products if I can find a local stockist for them.

Meanwhile, back to neutral density filters, both fixed and variable.

Variations in sharpness, colour casts and the dreaded X were considerations when I was searching for the best and most economical neutral density filters to buy when I got back into digital video and photography a few years ago.

I had used sets of square and rectangular high-end cinema filters for attachment to movie cameras via matte boxes years before, but no longer have the sorts of budget to afford such things nor the desire to cart them all about any more.

When I started looking into screw-on fixed and variable neutral density filters the most recommended brand at the time was Singh-Ray but the company’s VND cost a fortune and was out of reach.

Instead I settled on Genustech’s Eclipse Fader VND after reading a number of recommendations by independent documentary and music video cinematographers and opted for the 77mm version along with a set of aluminium step-up rings to common sizes.

The Genustech Fader acquitted itself well through a number of small projects but recently I began looking for replacements, whether fixed or variable NDs or both, that had the least possible colour cast and the maximum sharpness.

I am also considering making 82mm filters my standard for maximum versatility given some current and future lenses I may add to my kit have wider front elements than did my limited selection of starter lenses some years ago.

Australian cinematographer/director Paul Leeming recently showed me the stripped-down travel version of his Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K kit and how he attaches his 82mm Formatt Hitech Firecrest Ultra fixed ND filters via the Manfrotto Xume magnetic filter adapter system for fast easy and secure filter swapping.

Vignetting at the widest focal length is a consideration with the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art zoom lens with Metabones Speed Booster attached though Mr Leeming assured me that, for the feature film he recently shot on the larger version of his BMPCC 4K rig, the vignetting was acceptable.

I continue to research the options but have now settled on the 82mm filter diameter and step-up rings made of brass rather than aluminium, which has a tendency to bind when screwing them on and off in the field.

I may well choose another brand of variable neutral density filter, bearing in mind factors like colour cast, sharpness, the x-effect at maximum density, the absence or presence of a self-locking device, and, now that cameras are appearing with higher base ISOs when shooting HLG footage in particular, a maximum density in the 10 or 11 stop range.

I may also add a set of 82mm fixed value neutral density filters for the other cameras I use and will most likely stick with Breakthrough Photography brand fixed NDs for that as I am rather fond of the company’s beautifully designed and made knurled brass-framed UV, CPL and ND filters.

Other screw-on circular fixed and variable neutral density filters and step-up rings

Genustech Eclipse Fader Variable Neutral Density (ND) Filter, once the most recommended variable ND and still one I keep in my documentary moviemaking kit. This VND gives you 2 to 8 stops of neutral density.

Aurora Aperture PowerXND II VND: “The PowerXND-II 128 is a 1-7 stop variable ND filter while the PowerXND-II 2000 is a 5-11 stop variable ND filter. With both filters users can control light reduction from 1 to 11 stops, making them highly versatile tools for general photography and videography applications.”

SLR Magic self-locking 82mm Variable Neutral Density VND Filter.

SLR Magic 86mm Solid Neutral Density 1.2 Enhancer Filter, 4-stop, to go with SLR Magic 82mm Variable Neutral Density Filter. The VND gives you 1.3 to 6 stops of density and adding the Enhancer to the front of it adds an extra 4 stops of density, totalling 10 stops. The Enhancer also adds extra ultraviolet and infra-red filtration.

SLR Magic 82mm Fixed Neutral Density Filter, 3.0, 10-stop. SLR Magic recently released fixed ND filters to complement the company’s highly-regarded VNDs.

Formatt-Hitech Firecrest Fixed Neutral Density (ND) Filter, available in a range of filter diameters from 39mm to 127mm and a range of densities from 1 stop to 16 stops.

Breakthrough Photography Magnetic Wheel and Magnetic Filter. The company had a Kickstarter campaign for this new filter attachment system but it does appear to have reached the Breakthrough Photography online store yet.

Breakthrough Photography brass traction-framed step-up ring.

Heliopan brass non-knurled step-up ring.

Sensei Pro brass knurled step-up ring. I prefer these to the company’s aluminium knurled and unsnarled step-up rings but knurled aluminium is better than unknurled in my experience.

The XUME magnetic filter attachment system was invented by an independent moviemaker then sold to Manfrotto. It appears that XUME products are not available in every territory where Manfrotto is distributed, including Australia. I would love to see and try them out myself before investing in equipping every lens with XUME adapters.

Xume filter adapter attached to step-up ring attached to lens.

ND filter attached to filter adapter via filter holder.

Lens cap attached to adapter, step-up ring and lens.

Paul Leeming’s Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 in 8Sinn cage with Scorpio handle and XUME magnetic filter holder system.

SIMMOD Variable Neutral Density 0.4-1.8 Filter. I recently came across this brand while researching the utility value of locking rings on VND filters.

SIMMOD Variable Neutral Density 0.4-1.8 Filter with a range of 1.3 to 6 stops.

SIMMOD Variable Neutral Density 0.4-1.8 Filter with a range of 1.3 to 6 stops. Note the locking ring.

Links

Aurora Aperture Inc.

Aputure

Breakthrough Photography

Indy Mogul – Indy Mogul is Back! – video

Indy Mogul – ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE to ND Filters – video

Simmod Lens

SMPTE Australia 2019

Help support ‘Untitled’

Clicking on the links below and purchasing through them or our affiliate accounts at B&H Photo Video, SmallRig or Think Tank Photo helps us continue our work for ‘Untitled’.

Aurora-Aperture filters – B&H

Breakthrough Photography filters – B&H

Formatt Hitech Firecrest Ultra filters – B&H

Genustech filters – B&H

Heliopan step-up rings – B&H

Sensei Pro step-up rings – B&H

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art Lens for Canon EF – B&H

Indy Mogul: ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE to ND Filters "... Neutral Density Filters are a necessary tool for exposure control, but does their price tag really affect their quality?

[karingottschalk]

http://noamkroll.com/battle-of-the-4k-mirrorless-cinema-cameras-blackmagic-pocket-camera-4k-canon-eos-r-fuji-xt3/

“Several new mirrorless cameras were released or announced in recent weeks, including Blackmagic’s new Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, Canon’s EOS R, and Fuji’s XT3. All three cameras are clearly of interest to many filmmakers right now, so I wanted to share my two cents on them below.

… I have however, done some tests with Blackmagic’s new RAW codec, and will be sharing the results here on the blog this week.

But with regards to the new releases from BMD, Canon, and Fuji, what I’m going to outline below are simply my first impressions. I’ll aim to do follow up articles on each camera in more depth in the future, so if that’s something you would like to see, please let me know!…”

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K with Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro standard zoom lens and mini-XLR-to-XLR audio cable for attaching XLR microphones, mounted on Benro Aero 4 Video Travel Angel Tripod Kit. Mini-XLR cable is made by Blackmagic Design for their Video Assist monitor/recorder but is also great for connecting XLR microphones to the BMPCC 4K, product code HYPERD/AXLRMINI2.

Fujifilm X-T3 with Fujifilm VG-XT3 Vertical Battery Grip and Fujinon MKX 18-55mm T2.9 cinema zoom lens.

Commentary

Noam Kroll is one of the most-trusted sources for good, hard, reliable facts, insights and opinions on independent feature film moviemaking.

I am very much looking forward to reading his coming hands-on articles about the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, Canon EOS R and Fujifilm X-T3 mirrorless hybrid stills/video cameras for use in movie production.

Links

Noam Kroll – Battle Of The 4K Mirrorless Cinema Cameras – Blackmagic Pocket Camera 4K, Canon EOS R, Fuji XT3

Help support ‘Untitled’

Clicking on these affiliate links and purchasing through them helps us continue our work for ‘Untitled’.

Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K – B&H

Canon EOS R Mirrorless Digital Camera – B&H

Fujifilm X-T3 Mirrorless Digital Camera – B&H

Noam Kroll: Battle Of The 4K Mirrorless Cinema Cameras – Blackmagic Pocket Camera 4K, Canon EOS R, Fuji XT3 "Several new mirrorless cameras were released or announced in recent weeks, including Blackmagic’s new Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, Canon’s EOS R, and Fuji’s XT3.

[karingottschalk]

MindShift Gear: MindShift Gear’s “Exposure” Shoulder Bags Offer the Ultimate in Durability and Weather Protection for Outdoor Photographers

MindShift Gear: MindShift Gear’s “Exposure” Shoulder Bags Offer the Ultimate in Durability and Weather Protection for Outdoor Photographers

https://www.thinktankphoto.com/blogs/news-events/mindshift-gear-s-exposure-shoulder-bags-offer-the-ultimate-in-durability-and-weather-protection-for-outdoor-photographers “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. MindShift Gear’s new Exposure shoulder bags are storm-resistant carrying solutions for the active photographer in virtually any outdoor environment. Built with high…

[karingottschalk]

We're still sick with the worst cold virus infection we've had for years...

We’re still sick with the worst cold virus infection we’ve had for years…

We’re still sick with the worst cold virus infection we’ve had for years but we’re doing our best to get back to work here publishing articles of all sorts and sizes about the the things in which we are interested and which we hope are of benefit to you as independent self-funded documentary photographers and moviemakers.

[karingottschalk]

“Is the Fujifilm X-T4 the king of APS-C cameras? We have the answer!…”

Fujifilm X-T4 with Fujinon XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR zoom lens.

Commentary

One design inspiration for Fujifilm’s X-T4? Leica Leicaflex SL with Summicron-R 50mm f/2.0, made in 1968. The SL2 is considered one of the best analog-era 35mm SLRs.

I missed out to seeing a pre-production Fujifilm X-4 at Fujifilm Australia’s event at Ted’s World of Imaging earlier this year when COVID-19 struck home and I could not attend due to highly susceptible family members.

Such touch-and-try preview events can be useful but production versions are the real deal when it comes to assessing potential new hardware purchases.

DPReview is in prime position for obtaining early production releases and recently published its two-hander video review of the Fujifilm X-T4 alongside an in-depth text review plus image gallery.

A cursory skim through confirms my initial assessment of the desirability of the X-T4 for documentary stills photography and video production as an independent self-funded practitioner without the means to acquire every bit of hardware that comes down the turnpike, so I will be forgoing an X-T4 unless circumstances change.

Should some of us wait for the X-H2? Fujifilm X-H1 with VPB-XH1 battery grip and Fujinon XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR professional zoom lens.

Or we just might win the lottery. Ha!

COVID-19 and its worldwide economic havoc and consequent uncertainty for independent creatives means more belt-tightening and skipping over new models while trying to get the best out of past purchases.

There is plenty to like about the X-T4 for stills and video, especially video, and it is clearly one of the current best options for available light documentary work in either.

It is excellent to see that Fujifilm has now entered the small camera IBIS era (in-body image stabilization) and is reportedly approaching the IBIS in Panasonic’s Lumix DC-GH5, DC-G9 and S-Series 35mm cameras such as the Lumix DC-S1H, DC-S1 and DC-S1R.

Cinematographer, director, producer, writer Emily Skye of She Wolf Films production company with Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 camera.

Some reviewers are speculating that Fujifilm may issue firmware updates to improve the X-T4’s IBIS, and that will be quite an achievement if they do so.

I have the most experience with the GH5’s stabilization in combination with non-stabilized autofocus lenses like those in Olympus’ M.Zuiko Pro range as well as manual-focus vintage lenses of East German design and German or Japanese manufacture, and can testify to the camera’s excellent IBIS for stills and video.

My baptism into the joys of IBIS occurred with my still-beloved Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 during a vacation away from Fujifilm cameras when the company had yet to get its head round video.

Australian photojournalist Daniel Berehulak using Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8’s fully articulated LCD monitor. Now we have full articulation in the X-T4!

The GX8 has an earlier, stills-only version of IBIS than the GH5, but I soon discovered how useful, essential even, stabilization is for available darkness documentary work and I cannot imagine ever going back to non-stabilized cameras or at least non-stabilized lenses on such cameras.

Subsequently I picked up a copy of the legendary though often overlooked Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspheric Mega OIS stabilized zoom lens and would have added the equally impressive Panasonic Lumix G Vario 35-100mm f/4-5.6 Aspheric Mega OIS zoom, had I found a secondhand copy at a good price at the time.

Panasonic DMW-XLR1 Microphone Adapter for Panasonic Lumix G and S-Series cameras. Fujifilm needs to make one of these for its more video-oriented cameras.

Without the pleasure of access to a production version of the Fujifilm X-T4, I am reluctant to express any opinions about it here so have added links to articles by well-qualified reviewers in the list of links below.

Fujifilm X-T4

Fujifilm X-T4 with Fujifilm VG-XT4 Vertical Battery grip and Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.0 R LM OIS kit zoom lens.

Fujifilm X-T4 with Fujifilm VG-XT4 Vertical Battery grip containing Fujifilm’s new larger NP-W235 Lithium-Ion batteries.

Fujifilm X-T4 with Fujifilm VG-XT4 Vertical Battery grip and Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.0 R LM OIS kit zoom lens, in portrait or vertical orientation.

Fujifilm X-T4 with vari-angle LCD monitor swung out.

Fujifilm X-T4 with Vario-angle LCD monitor in closed position, excellent for protecting the monitor when not needed.

Fujifilm X-T4 with Fujinon XF 16-80mm f/4.0 R OIS WR zoom lens.

Fujifilm NP-W235 Lithium-Ion Battery, rated at 7.2V, 2200mAh, much improved over the smaller batteries for the X-T3, X-Pro3 and other, older models.

Fujifilm BC-W235 Dual Battery Charger enables charging two NP-W235 batteries at the same time.

The Fujifilm X-T4 for moviemaking

Fujifilm X-T4 rigged for video production. Image courtesy of Fujifilm-X.com.

Links

Camera Labs – Fujifilm XT4 review

DPReview – DPReview TV: Fujifilm X-T4 review

DPReview – Fujifilm interview: ‘We will get through this crisis together’

DPReview – Fujifilm X-T4 full-production sample gallery

DPReview – Fujifilm X-T4 review

DPReview – Fujifilm X-T4 Review: Hands-on with Fujifilm’s newest flagship camera – video

DPReview – Fujifilm X-T4 vs X-H1: should you upgrade or hunt for a bargain?

DPReview – Fujifilm X-T4 vs X-T3: Which should I buy – and is it worth upgrading?

EOSHD.com – Canon 1D X Mark III Review // Filmmaking, video and cinema camera. Get the Fuji X-T4 instead?

Fuji Rumors – DPRTV Fujifilm X-T4 Review: “One of the Best Hybrid Cameras, But if You are a Video Shooter, Maybe Wait for Fujifilm X-H2” – excellent summary of major posts in the video.

Fujifilm-X – X-T4

jonasrask|photography – Fujifilm X-T4 first look preview – Closer to technical bliss.

News Shooter – Fujifilm X-T4 improves on an already solid camera

She Wolf Films – cinematographer, director, producer, writer Emily Skye’s production company.

Thomas Fitzgerald Photography – Thoughts on the Fuji X-T4

DPReview: Fujifilm X-T4 Review: Hands-on with Fujifilm’s newest flagship camera – Commentary "Is the Fujifilm X-T4 the king of APS-C cameras? We have the answer!..." Commentary I missed out to seeing a pre-production…

[karingottschalk]

“Kyno 1.6 brings checksum-verified camera offloading, new metadata and copy workflows, Red (R3D, Redcode) Raw support and tons of other improvements. Check out the release notes at lesspain.software…”

Kyno 1.6 is here!

https://support.lesspain.software/support/solutions/articles/12000016005-release-notes-for-kyno-1

1.6.0 (macOS: 106027, Windows: 1.6.0.23) – Released 2019-02-25

This major update brings a number of exciting new features and improvements as well as fixes for issues that have been reported.

The highlight of this feature is without a doubt the addition of verified copy (sometimes called “offloading”) using industry grade checksum verification based on the established media hash list (MHL) standard. From now on, you never have to leave your favourite workflow tool from camera card to edit/delivery.

Kyno Premium users will welcome the much-requested support for the RED RAW R3D format that you can preview and transcode with Kyno 1.6.

If you’re looking to get in touch with us directly be sure to drop us a line at @lesspainsoft on Twitter or on Facebook at facebook.com/lesspainsoft. If you have questions or need support just pop on over to support.lesspain.software and we’ll point you in the right direction.

What’s New (all editions):

Added “Copy & verify” function (aka verified copy, aka offloading) that copies your camera media or any folder with industry-grade verification using the media hash list (MHL) standard, full or incremental mode supported.

Added workflow for exporting and importing/merging descriptive metadata to aid collaborative workflows that operate on multiple copies of the same material.

Added new “Paste & rename” workflow for people copying and batch-renaming in one step as part of their ingest process.

When browsing through similar clips using the “next” and “previous” button or shortcut audio track and speed settings are retained for similar clips.

Added marker and subclip statistics to “Create report” function

Improved stereo audio track handling when sending files to Premiere Pro

Use full file name as clip name when sending to Premiere (or exporting for Resolve) instead of removing file extension to be consistent with what Premiere does on regular import

Display the XDCAM type in clip metadata for XDCAM footage

Support rewrapping of HEVC files to Mov container

Selected audio track and playback speed are retained when skipping through similar files

Thumbnails are now created with current LUT settings applied

LUTs are now applied when exporting still frames from videos

Added fade in/out support to transcoder

Added preset for XDCAM HD 422 29.97 FPS

Added FPS column to Excel export

Include marker and subclip titles when matching search term in the Browser filter

Added possibility to filter assets based on folder name and date range

Allow tags to be imported and exported

Added a global index as a naming variable to count across multiple rename, export or transcode operations

Added video/audio codec, format, start, end, path as optional metadata columns in Browser

Display overlay icons for tags, metadata, markers in list mode

Support playback of certain old PCM audio tracks from old camcorders

Improved sorting in Navigator tree

Adjusted labels for color properties to be more in line with industry standards

Made subclip time range controls in transcoder window take into account clip timecode

Renamed MJPEG transcoding preset to Photo JPEG because it’s more known under that name

What’s New (Premium edition):

RED RAW R3D support (playback and transcoding)

Multi-Destination verified copy (aka offloading) in one step. Back up your camera media in a simple workflow in two locations

Added ability to automatically transcode files in delivery workflow

Added ability to transfer image files together with video files in delivery workflow

Add a new folder naming option in delivery options

Improve behaviour of delivery folder history

Automatically display folders created by local delivery in Navigator tree

Sort subfolders correctly in delivery folder selector

Improve performance of delivery folder selector for slow connections

New Enterprise Features:

Changed Custom Package Deployment configuration overrides to one XML file that can be loaded from file system or via HTTP

Added functionality for delivery endpoints to be preconfigured via Custom Package Deployment

Added functionality for tags to be preconfigured via custom package deployment

Fixes:

Identified and busted the cause for accidental folder moves in the folder navigator

Improved display of drag and drop items (folders, clips)

Kyno now prevents input of invalid folder names on Windows

Fixed Premiere Pro 2019 not being detected automatically by the “Send to” function

Fixed a minor inaccuracy in duration filter

Fixed a rare crash that happened during drag & drop on certain OSX versions

Fixed a bug where moving a file between volumes resulted in a stale file remaining in the old location

Fixed a bug on Windows that prevented another volume to be registered in the workspace with the same drive letter

Fixed a problem where in rare cases empty clip names where transferred to Premiere or Resolve

Fixed a bug that caused certain HDR ProRes files not to play back

Fixed a rare freeze on Windows when double-clicking subclips

Kyno 1.6 Screenshots

Kyno 1.6: Metadata import dialog

Kyno 1.6: Red Raw support

Kyno 1.6: Offloading destination selection

LumaForge: Media Asset Management and Kyno

Commentary

Kyno goes from strength to strength as it continue to add essential video and photography production functions that many of us have relied for on a cluster of other dedicated applications made by a range of small software companies.

Add up the licence fees for all of that ever-growing cluster of separate applications and compare it to Kyno’s licence fees in whichever version, Kyno, Kyno Premium or Kyno Enterprise, is relevant to your work.

I am particularly excited about Kyno 1.6’s checksum-verified camera offloading after having tried out a number of dedicated offloading products as well as its metadata workflow improvements as the latter has been something of a sore point for a while.

Kyno 1.6’s ability to add two LUTs – one for camera profiles and one for looks LUTs for example – to still frame image files exported from markers as well as thumbnails is also very welcome.

These and more new and improved features are making Kyno the number one on-location media management system for a range of producers including self-funded independent documentary moviemakers and photographers like me.

I have already put the offloading function in Kyno 1.6 – now updated to version 1.6.1 – to good use in the course of reviewing a camera and lens and look forward to putting more of its new features and improvements to use in the coming days.

I can only imagine what may be coming in Kyno 1.7!

Support for Blackmagic Cinema DNG and Blackmagic Raw come to mind right now for example  – I received some sample BMPCC 4K footage from Paul Leeming the other day – and look forward to Kyno adding support for all the latest affordable hybrid and video cameras and camcorders as they appear.

Links

fcp.co – The Media Management App Kyno Gets Updated to 1.6

Lesspain Software – Kyno 1.6 is here – video

Lesspain Software – What is Kyno?

LumaForge – Media Asset Management and Kyno – video

News Shooter – Kyno 1.6 adds Media back up and RED Raw support

Pro Video Coalition – Kyno 1.6: workflow enhancements, RED Raw support and Frame.io integration

Help support ‘Untitled’

Clicking on the links and purchasing through them for our affiliate accounts at B&H Photo Video, SmallRig or Think Tank Photo helps us continue our work for ‘Untitled’.

Lesspain Software: Kyno 1.6 is Here "Kyno 1.6 brings checksum-verified camera offloading, new metadata and copy workflows, Red (R3D, Redcode) Raw support and tons of other improvements.

[karingottschalk]

Thanks to Fujifilm Australia, I have been lucky enough to try out the Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR ultra-wide zoom in combo with the amazing Fujifilm X-T3 DSLR-style camera and its VG-XT3 Vertical Battery Grip.

My primary motivation in requesting the loan was so cinematographer/director Paul Leeming could use the X-T3 to shoot video footage in order to create a custom Leeming LUT Pro for it.

He did the same for my X-Pro 2 camera, and I am looking forward to eventually relying on Paul’s various Leeming LUT Pro 3D look-up tables to quickly and easily combine footage from those two cameras with video shot with my Panasonic cameras and, hopefully, Blackmagic Design’s Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K aka BMPCC 4K.

Fujifilm X-T3 with VG-XT3 Vertical Battery Grip and Fujifilm XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR lens.

At the moment I am using the Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR for stills photography and for a self-funded independent documentary photographer and moviemaker I believe it is stills to which this lens is best suited.

Reason number one?

The Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR does not permit attaching circular filters.

Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR wideangle zoom lens

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR wideangle zoom lens

Large and costly adapters are required in order to attach square or rectangular filters in front of the lenses convex front element, though someone may come up with a similar adapter for attaching wide diameter circular filters to it.

Another large and costly solution is to invest in a matter box, though which one may be best is beyond my current knowledge and experience.

As a budget-driven documentary video solo operator I have to keep my equipment load and expenses down so I rely on circular variable ND filters.

My current VNDs are built with ageing technology, and more recent ones are reportedly sharper, more colour-colour-neutral and offer a greater range of filtration density stops for today’s sensors.

I need to find the best contemporary VND and I want a great set of fixed density NDs for less run-and-gun style projects, and I want to upgrade from 77mm to 82mm to future-proof for coming bigger lenses.

All that aside, I absolutely love the results I have been getting with the Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR.

It balances well on a battery grip-equipped X-T3 whereas it is far too large and heavy for an ungripped camera.

I cannot comment on how it works with a gripped or ungripped Fujifilm X-H1 as I have yet to experience that particular camera.

I wish the X-T3 had the X-H1’s in-body image stabilization aka IBIS and optical image stabilization on the 8-16mm lens would have been terrific.

The X-T3’s ungripped body makes for a great companion camera to my X-Pro2 as I discovered during my first X-T3 tryout late last year, equipping the latter with a Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.0 alongside the former with my Fujinon XF 23mm f/1.4 R attached.

Adding a Fujifilm VG-XT3 Vertical Battery Grip to the X-T3 turns it into a great handheld portrait camera with the addition of my Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R.

But I digress.

The Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR is the first Fujifilm Red Badge zoom lens I have tried, and so far it looks like it adheres to the common praise heaped upon the Fujinon XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R WR, that it is like having a set of top quality primes at your disposal but all in the one lens.

The widest lens I have ever used until now was the Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R, equivalent in 35mm sensor terms to one of my favourite focal lengths for immersive documentary photography and video, 21mm.

The Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR goes well beyond that excellent and affordable little lens with a focal length range from 12mm through to 24mm in 35mm sensor terms, the latter not one of my preferred focal lengths by any means.

The Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR’s focal range is particularly well-suited to cityscapes and ‘burbscapes, though it can handle documentary shots in a pinch provided you set it at 16mm and watch out for weird volume distortion of people and objects too near the corners of the frame.

Some of that corner volume distortion can be corrected in post-processing with DxO ViewPoint but that can also introduce other distortions in the centre of the photograph.

I would rather have a pro-quality 18mm lens for immersive documentary work, but Fujifilm has yet to update its current quirky 18mm offering or release the coming Fujinon XF 16-80mm f/4.0 R OIS WR zoom lens.

In my analog days I often made architectural photographs with 4”x5” sheet film cameras as part of corporate photography assignments, and as it was a sideline rather than a speciality did not have the set of wide-angle large format view camera lenses I would have liked.

The Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR gives me all of those focal lengths and more.

Shooting architecture with a small handheld camera is a very different dynamic than doing it with a tripod-mounted field camera.

The small camera’s fast and easy mobility means one feels free to dart all around the subject and the zoom lens makes it so fast and easy to try out plenty of alternative camera positions.

I often found myself using the lens at its widest focal length when street furniture, signage and random objects and people got in the way.

So long as you keep a keen eye on potentially detrimental volume and perspective distortions due to distance from and angle of view to the subject, you will do fine.

On the other hand, if you want radical perspective and even more radical near/far object size comparisons, select one of the lens’ wider focal lengths and distort to your heart’s content.

The Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR is possibly the sharpest lens I have ever used, with excellent resolution and micro-contrast.

Whether using Adobe’s Enhance-equipped Camera Raw 11.2, previous versions of Camera Raw or another raw processor or image editing application, its unsharpened raw files are impressive onscreen.

If adding sharpening in post-processing, go easy with it and you may also wish dial down your in-camera sharpening for certain subjects if you are a JPEG user.

The Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR zoom lens makes for a superb addition to your Fujifilm lens collection if your work demands ultra-wide focal lengths, though its current high pricing will give some pause to stop, think and postpone purchase.

Many video-oriented users of Fujifilm APS-C/Super 35 cameras may be better off considering the Fujinon XF 10-24mm f/4.0 R OIS zoom lens for one or more of its most prominent differences – price, size, weight, optical image stabilization and not least the ability to easily mount circular filters of 72mm diameter or larger.

In terms of focal length, one loses 2mm at the wide and gains 8mm at the long end with the 35mm sensor equivalent of 15mm to 36mm, thus providing my preferred documentary photo and video focal lengths of 14mm, 18mm and 23mm or in 35mm sensor terms 21mm, 28mm and 35mm.

Add a medium-to-long zoom lens or some longer primes and you have most bases covered.

The Fujinon XF 10-24mm f/4.0 R OIS zoom lens is reportedly not as sharp or as high-resolving as the Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR and I have read complaints about its lack of corner sharpness at certain wider apertures, so I hope it will be one of the lenses Fujifilm considers for revision in the very near future.

If the Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR meets your needs despite its inability to take a screw-on filter and lack of OIS, and its price is beyond your budget, wait for the discounts and sales seasons or for Fujifilm to substantially drop its price.

If price is no object and if I were a full-time architectural photographer, this would be my number one and possibly only lens for the job.

Gallery, Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR on Fujifilm X-T3

Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR at 16mm and 8mm

Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR at 16mm.

Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR at 8mm.

Links

Fujifilm Global – Fujinon Lens XF8-16mmF2.8 R LM WR

Fujifilm X – XF6-18mmF2.8 R LM WR

Help support ‘Untitled’

Clicking on the links below and purchasing through them or our affiliate accounts at B&H Photo Video, SmallRig or Think Tank Photo helps us continue our work for ‘Untitled’.

FUJIFILM VG-XT3 Vertical Battery Grip – B&H

FUJIFILM X-T3 Mirrorless Digital Camera – B&H

FUJIFILM XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR Lens – B&H

FUJIFILM XF 10-24mm f/4 R OIS Lens – B&H

FUJIFILM XF 14mm f/2.8 R Lens – B&H

Trying Out Fujifilm’s Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R WR Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens on the X-T3 Thanks to Fujifilm Australia, I have been lucky enough to try out the Fujinon XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR ultra-wide zoom in combo with the amazing Fujifilm X-T3 DSLR-style camera and its VG-XT3 Vertical Battery Grip.

[karingottschalk]

https://www.ninjafilmmaking.com/minicourse

The current state of the world has posed challenges for all of us. As filmmakers, our challenges have been extra unique. Budgets are reduced, crews need to be smaller, and we are generally expected to work with less resources. That’s why we created the free Ninja Filmmaking mini-course: to show you how to create big results by outthinking your challenges. We’ll break down exactly how to plan out your story and be a far more proactive, stealth and intentional filmmaker.

Commentary

The Muse Storytelling folks have launched a free online short course under the title Ninja Filmmaking that is aimed at helping moviemakers cope and survive if not thrive in this pandemic-affected world.

If things were difficult enough for independent self-funded documentary moviemakers before the arrival of COVID-19, they are even more challenging now with personal income and resources radically reduced and yet even more need for us to produce compelling visual storytelling to production standards that are constantly growing higher and higher.

Luckily, we are in the post-DSLR filmmaking revolution era, the now well-established mirrorless hybrid era with high quality, affordable cameras that can record excellent stills as well as video footage to current UHD broadcast and cinema projection standards.

Moviemaking remains, however, a predominantly WASP, middle-class occupation except in places where those of us locked out of the system have banded together with the support of donors and mentors to equip and teach ourselves to tell our own stories.

The last such organization located in Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Paddington shut its doors several years ago after charging high fees for equipment rental and training during its later years.

Any free or affordable training by well-qualified moviemakers is welcome and I am for grateful Muse Storytelling’s ‘Ninja Filmmaking’ online course and advice on what for current production standards by one-person bands.

Moviemaking remains costly

As Drew Turney of Filmism.net shared in a recent newsletter:

We all know moviemaking is an inherently expensive exercise. Even the amount of money we’d consider low (or no) budget filmmaking would be enough to get the average middle class family out of debt for the rest of their lives.

Drew bounces between Perth in Western Australia and Los Angeles, and is doubtless aware that moviemaking is an even more costly exercise in Australia than it is in the USA, with our exchange rates, lack of importer and retailer competition and local unavailability of many key items as well as non-representaion of a number of useful, even essential, brands.

Nonetheless the equipment list shared by the Muse/Ninja folks is a good one based on the currently most affordable and versatile feature-quality Super 35 hybrid camera, the Fujifilm X-T4, supported by microphones from Australia’s own world-famous audio equipment maker, Røde Microphones, along with other currently popular lighting and grip products.

A good starting point

The list is a useful starting point though I would recommend considering alternatives from brands like 3 Legged Thing, Olympus, Panasonic, Rotolight and others.

I will add them to my list lower down this page over the coming days.

Production hardware recommended by Ninja Filmmaking

Fujifilm X-T4 with Fujinon XF 16-80mm f/4.0 R OIS WR zoom lens.

Fujinon XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR professional Red Badge standard zoom lens.

Fujinon XF 35mm f1.4 R prime lens

Røde VideoMic NTG Hybrid Analog/USB Camera-Mount Shotgun Microphone.

Roland R-07 Portable Audio Recorder.

B&H – Countryman B3 Omni Lavalier Mic, Standard Sens, with TA5F Connector for Lectrosonics Wireless Transmitters

B&H – DJI Mavic Mini

B&H – DJI Ronin-SC Gimbal Stabilizer

B&H – FUJIFILM X-T4 Mirrorless Digital Camera

B&H – FUJIFILM XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR Lens

B&H – FUJIFILM XF 35mm f/1.4 R Lens – known by Fujifilm as the “God Lens”, though my personal preference for documentary video work is Fujifilm’s Fujinon XF 23mm f/1.4 R moderate wide-angle.

B&H – GNARBOX 2.0 SSD 1TB Rugged Backup Device

B&H – Lowepro Whistler Backpack 450 AW II

B&H – Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod

B&H – Rode VideoMic NTG Hybrid Analog/USB Camera-Mount Shotgun Microphone

B&H – Rode Wireless GO Compact Digital Wireless Microphone System

B&H – Roland R-07 Portable Audio Recorder

B&H – Rycote Undercover, Lavalier Wind Cover and Adhesive Mount

B&H – SmallRig 2164 Multifunctional Crab Clamp with 3.5″ Ball Head Arm

B&H – SmallRig Cold Shoe Mount Top Handle

B&H – Westcott 6×6′ Scrim Jim Cine Kit

B&H – Westcott Bi-Color Flex Lights

My own recommendations

coming soon

Links

3 Legged Thing – “The most technologically advanced tripod system in the world.”

Apple – Final Cut Pro X

Blackmagic Design – DaVinci Resolve – “DaVinci Resolve 16 is the world’s only solution that combines professional 8K editing, color correction, visual effects and audio post production all in one software tool!”

Muse Storytelling – Ninja Filmmaking

Røde Microphones

Rotolight – “From the very first LEDs to offer the shoot what you see benefits of continuous lighting and High Speed Sync flash all-in-one, to the brightest 2×1 soft light ever made, Rotolight LEDs streamline the workflows of imagemakers across the world.”

Muse Storytelling: Ninja Filmmaking – Commentary The current state of the world has posed challenges for all of us. As filmmakers, our challenges have been extra unique. 

[karingottschalk]

The sudden closure of Ryan Avery’s Veydra cinema prime lens design and manufacturing enterprise several years ago created a huge gap in the affordable ciné lens market and many self-funded independent moviemakers were dismayed if not devastated by the ending of the line. 

Meike Cinema Prime Set in 12mm, 16mm, 25mm, 35mm and 50mm T2.2 lenses with Micro Four Thirds mounts. Meike Cinema Primes in 65mm and 85mm focal lengths are coming later this year, 2020. Image courtesy of Duclos Lenses.

Luckily, HongKong Meike Digital Technology Co., Ltd has ramped up its lens division to the point where the company appears to be rivalling if not outstripping Mr Avery’s noble efforts.

Veydra, thwarted

Duclos Lenses came up with a Fujifilm X-Mount option for Veydra’s Mini Primes that can cover the APS-C format. Image courtesy of Veydra LLC.

I had been planning on obtaining my own set of Veydra Mini Prime lenses for native use in documentary production on Panasonic and Blackmagic Design cameras, spurred on by Duclos Lens’ creation of its interchangeable mount to enable using a subset of the Veydra lenses on Fujifilm X-mount Super 35mm/APS-C cameras.

Two things dampened my enthusiasm, however.

First was the sheer cost of a complete set of Veydra lenses in M43 mount along with the Duclos X-mount kits needed when adapting them for Fujifilm X-mount cameras.

Compare the cost of the Meike primes with the now discontinued Veydra primes by looking at the Duclos Lens product pages for proof of the radical price differences between lens lines.

Compare the Meike lenses’ USD400.00 average price and reported superior quality to the Veydra lenses’ USD1200.00 average price and the conclusion is clear – consider investing in a set of Meike cinema primes.

Meike 4 Lens Cinema Prime Set 12mm, 16mm, 25mm, 35mm T2.2 for Micro4/3 MFT at Revar Cine website. Image courtesy of Revar Cine.

The current price of the four-lens set for Micro Four Thirds as above at Ryan Avery’s Revar Cine website is USD1595.00, about one Meike lens above the cost of just one Veydra lens.

At time of writing, seven focal lengths are available as Meike Cinema Primes in M43 mount :

12mm = 24mm in the 35mm sensor format

16mm = 32mm

25mm = 50mm

35mm = 70mm

50mm = 100mm

65mm = 130mm

85mm = 170mm

A subset of the Meike Cinema Primes is available for Super 35/APS-C cameras in Sony E-mount and Fujifilm X-mount:

25mm = 37.5mm in the APS-C/Super35 sensor format

35mm = 52.5mm

50mm = 75mm

65mm = 97.5mm

85mm = 127.5mm

Meike 65mm and 85mm T2.2 Cinema Primes, listed by Meike as coming later in 2020. Image courtesy of Meike.

Whether for  M43 or Super 35 cameras, the Meike Cinema Primes provide a well-spaced and feature-matched set of focal lengths that should meet most cinematographers’ daily needs.

The Voigtlaender Nokton f/0.95 Micro Four Thirds lens set, minus the matching and more recently released Voigtlaender Nokton 60mm f/0.95 M43 lens. Left to right: 10.5mm, 17.5mm, 25mm and 42.5mm focal lengths. Duclos Lenses offers ciné-modded versions of these stills lenses, making them more suitable for video production. Meike needs to offer a wider lens than its current 12mm.

I would very much like to see Meike release a super wide angle in the 10mm to 10.5mm range, and an 18mm moderate wide angle lens with coverage enough for M43 and Super 35.

I have written before about the need for a professional-quality 18mm lens for stills photography with Fujifilm X-mount cameras, as an alternative to Fujifilm’s quirky and semi-pancake Fujinon XF 18mm f/2.0 R.

Meike’s current cinema prime lens offering for Super 35 goes no wider than 25mm and a complete lens set needs, nay, demands, a medium wide and an ultra wide lens in the equivalent of 28mm and 21mm.

That is, an 18mm and a 14mm.

Veydra 50mm and 25mm Mini Prime Cinema manual focus lenses with imperial or metric markings, made by Veydra LLC.

Ryan Avery had been pursuing an 8.5mm ultra wide-angle Veydra M43 lens design but eventually ruled it out due to cost and size considerations.

And then disaster struck with a break-in at the company’s lens storage facility, followed by a court case with Mr Avery’s Veydra business partner.

Matthew Duclos of Duclos Lenses recently shared all he knows about Veydra’s demise at his personal blog.

Meike Cinema Lenses with Ryan Avery

Meanwhile, Ryan Avery is retailing Meike Cinema Primes at his Revar Cine website.

“Meike Cinema Prime lenses are designed specifically for mirrorless cameras. Available for MFT, Sony E, and Fuji X Mount cameras from Micro4/3 to APS-C size sensors. Compact, lightweight and perfect for a true cinematography experience on most mirrorless cameras.”

Meike Cinema Primes on Fujifilm and Panasonic hybrid and Blackmagic Design cinema cameras

Meike Cinema Prime 12mm T2.2 lens on Blackmagic Design’s Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K aka BMPCC4K with Micro Four Thirds mount. Image courtesy of Meike.

Meike Cinema Prime 12mm T2.2 mounted on Panasonic DC-GH5 Micro Four Thirds camera. Image courtesy of Meike.

Meike Cinema Prime lenses with Fujifilm X-mount in 25mm, 35mm, 50mm and 65mm focal lengths. Image courtesy of meike_global instagram account.

Meike’s cinema lens lineup for Micro Four Thirds, Sony E-mount and Fujifilm X-mount are welcome indeed given their affordability and the absence of OEM cinema prime lenses by brands such as Fujifilm, Olympus, Panasonic and Sony.

After the end of Veydra, I was contemplating the direction to take with video-capable prime lenses for Super 35/APS-C and Super 16/M43.

I grew up relying on prime lenses for filmmaking and still feel most comfortable with cinema primes for video production over the reportedly excellent zoom lenses in several lens mounts made by Fujifilm in its Fujinon MK pairing for X-mount, E-mount and M43.

With Olympus’ recent announcement that it had sold its camera and lens division, and the possible outcome of its excellent M.Zuiko Pro zoom and prime lenses going the way of Veydra, I have been wondering if my beloved Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro should plan on welcoming some M.Zuiko Pro siblings if there was a sudden sell-off of the lineup.

But the M.Zuiko Pro lineup does not answer the need for X-mount cinema lenses whereas Meike appears to be on the right track not only with its current Meike Cinema Prime offerings and possible additional focal lengths but also its coming so-called “full frame” aka 35mm sensor format cinema prime lenses.

More power to Meike’s arm, though I do hope the company will see fit to loaning cinema primes to a range of well-qualified stills photography and video production reviewers so we can get the full measure of these exciting new lenses.

Links

AliExpress – Meike

Amazon.com – Meike

Duclos Lens – Meike

Duclos Lens – Veydra

Duclos Lens – Voigtlander

Facebook – Meike Global

B&H – Meike

Hot Rod cameras – Meike

Instagram – meike_global

Lensrentals – Veydra Cine Mini Prime MTF Optical Bench Tests

Meike Global – Cinema Lenses

Meike Global – Meike Cine lens series (12mm+16mm+25mm+35mm+50mm) – video

Meike Global – Meike Cine Lenses with Veydra Co Founder Ryan Avery – video

Meike Online Store

News Shooter – Meike prime lenses for Micro4/3, Sony E, Fuji X mirrorless mount cameras

Olympus Cameras and Lenses – M. Zuiko Pro

Olympus Global – Regarding Olympus Imaging Business Transfer – press release

Olympus Global – Signing of Memorandum of Understanding for Divestiture of Imaging Business – press release, PDF

Revar Cine – Meike Mirrorless Cinema Prime Lenses

The Cine Lens – RIP VEYDRA: 2014-2019 – excellent and insightful blog post by Matthew Duclos of Duclos Lens.

Veydra

Voosestore.com – Meike 16mm VS Veydra 16mm – great MFT Cinema prime lenses for the Blackmagic Pocket 4K – video

YouTube – Meike Global

Meike Cinema Prime Lenses for Micro Four Thirds & Super 35 Fill the Chasm Left by the Demise of Veydra Mini Primes The sudden closure of Ryan Avery's Veydra cinema prime lens design and manufacturing enterprise several years ago 

[karingottschalk]

https://www.fringeradapter.com/blog/fringer-ef-fx-pro-ii-is-released

Fringer EF-FX Pro II adapter for mounting Canon EF-Mount lenses on Fujifilm X-Mount cameras.

Main improvements of the 2nd generation of EF-FX Pro include

– Redesigned aperture ring for more convenient operation

– New MCU (more powerful, more resources for firmware update)

– Better light absorbing design

The functions and performance of gen1 and gen2 are the same….

Fringer EF-FX Pro II lens adapter for mounting Canon EF-mount lenses on Fujifilm X-mount cameras

Fringer EF-FX Pro II adapter for mounting Canon EF-Mount lenses on Fujifilm X-Mount cameras.

Fringer EF-FX Pro II adapter for mounting Canon EF-Mount lenses on Fujifilm X-Mount cameras.

Fringer EF-FX Pro II adapter for mounting Canon EF-Mount lenses on Fujifilm X-Mount cameras.

Fringer EF-FX Pro version one adapter for mounting Canon EF-Mount lenses on Fujifilm X-Mount cameras.

Fringer EF-FX Pro version one adapter for mounting Canon EF-Mount lenses on Fujifilm X-Mount cameras.

Commentary

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art zoom lens for APS-C sensors and for adapting to M43 with Metabones SpeedBoosters, lens available in Canon EF or Nikon mounts.

Gaps still remain in Fujifilm’s native X-mount lens collection for the company’s APS-C sensor format cameras such as the X-T3, X-H1, X-T30, X-Pro2 and the rest so some cinematographers, wishing to take advantage of Fujifilm’s recently upgraded video capabilities, have been exploring adapting third party lenses like Sigma’s 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art zoom lens.

With Smart Adapter and Speed Booster stalwart Metabones missing in action when it comes to adapting Canon EF-mount lenses popular with moviemakers, space was created for formerly unknown adapter makers like Fringer to enter the fray with its Fringer EF-FX and Fringer EF-FX Pro smart adapters.

If I were contemplating doing the same as several cinematographers of my acquaintance, I would choose the Pro version given its built-in aperture ring and better yet, Fringer’s EF-FX Pro II with its much-needed hardware and firmware improvements.

I have just one Canon EF-mount lens remaining in my collection, a Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM kit zoom lens suffering from the far-too-common detached internal ribbon connector problem that renders it completely unusable so have been treading water on an EF-to-X-mount adapter until I can afford Canon’s over-priced repair bill for this problematic though popular lens.

I have been considering investing in a Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 zoom lens but was not quite convinced by Fringer’s EF-FX Pro version 1 adapter.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L USM zoom lens, prone to the all-too-common aperture control ribbon cable failure that can apparently cost a small fortune to have fixed in Australia. Bundled as a kit zoom lens with some Canon DSLRs and popular amongst videographers despite not having the most amazing optical or mechanical qualities.

The imminent release of the Fringer EF-FX Pro II may well tip the balance.

A Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 with smart adapter would give me access to one of the documentary photographer’s and photojournalist’s most-needed focal lengths, 18mm in APS-C which is equivalent to 28mm in the 35mm sensor format, as well as one of the most useful focal length ranges for documentary moviemaking.

On the other hand, Fujifilm’s Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.0 R LM OIS has its uses for stills and video and adds optical image stabilization to both, a benefit I do not have on any of my current Fujifilm lenses.

And then there is the coming Fujinon XF 16-80mm f/4.0 R OIS zoom lens, to be released sometime late this year according to rumours, with its highly useful additions to the wide and long ends of the scale.

Time to do some number crunching and crystal ball gazing, methinks, and hope for the best.

Native glass often proves to be the best solution given third-party adapters can have their downsides.

The upside of EF-mount lenses adapted for use on APS-C and Micro Four Thirds cameras such as those made by Fujifilm, Panasonic and Blackmagic Design is that they can be pressed into maximum service and prove their value in a wide range of applications.

Imagine a Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art, or a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM zoom lens for that matter, really proving its value for shooting Blackmagic Raw cinematic video on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, Super 16 HLG video on Panasonic’s MFT cameras, Super 35 HLG video on the Fujifilm X-T3, and documentary stills and portrait photography in a number of different sensor formats.

As a self-funded independent documentary photographer and video-maker, obtaining maximum value from minimum expenditure is a constant battle especially in this economic climate when the Australian banks are all-too-ready to screw-over regular folks like us, wrecking plans and throwing us to the wolves.

Focal lengths longer than 85mm in equivalence would come in handy right now for portraiture on my Fujifilm APS-C cameras, as would a stabilized zoom lens with equivalent focal lengths from 36mm through to 157.5mm for handheld Super 35 video.

I could do with something similar for my M43 cameras, providing equivalent focal lengths of 48mm through to 210mm for portraiture and video as well as macro product photography.

Add a Metabones Speed Booster to my current Metabones Smart Adapter and even more focal lengths would become available on those cameras as well as a Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, the cheapest option now available for cinematic raw video.

Links

Fringer – Fringer EF-FX Pro II is released

Fuji Rumors – Fringer EF-FX Pro II Coming before May 11

Help support ‘Untitled’

Clicking on the links and purchasing through them for our affiliate accounts at B&H Photo Video, SmallRigor Think Tank Photo helps us continue our work for ‘Untitled’.

Fringer: Fringer EF-FX Pro II is released Main improvements of the 2nd generation of EF-FX Pro include - Redesigned aperture ring for more convenient operation…

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Breakthrough Photography, makers of my preferred UV, circular polarizer, fixed neutral density filters due to their high optical quality, excellent materials, innovative design and top-quality manufacturing, has come up with yet another breakthrough innovation, a magnetic filter system consisting of magnetic adapter rings, magnetic wheel, X100 Holder for square and rectangular filters, magnetic filters in a range of types, densities and flavours, all of which is complemented by the company’s brilliantly designed and made knurled brass step-up rings. 

Breakthrough Photography Magnetic Adapter and Magnetic Dark CPL Filter

While other camera accessories makers already have products linking the word “magnetic” with the word “filter” on the market, Breakthrough Photography has attached the two in a way that nobody else has, creating a system potentially attractive to moviemakers and photographers especially if working on location in challenging conditions.

Xume, formerly an independent camera accessories company before selling itself to Manfrotto, was the first magnetic filter system I encountered through Australian director/director of photography Paul Leeming of Leeming LUT Pro who relies on them for his narrative feature and event documentary cinematography work while I came across H&Y Filters while researching for this article but their systems work differently from Breakthrough’s.

Breakthrough Photography’s Magnetic Filter system appears much better suited to my own needs as a one-person, self-funded, documentary moviemaker working in challenging conditions on location and I already know the Breakthrough Photography brand and its products, and recommend them without hesitation.

At the moment Breakthrough Photography is offering a range of magnetic filters and its Magnetic Adapter, with a Magnetic Wheel being released soon partially to tackle wide-angle lens filter vignetting that has been demonstrated by early users of the system.

I am looking forward to learning and seeing more about the Magnetic Filter system and am seriously considering investing in it for my own work, though I would very much like to see Breakthrough Photography expand its ND filter densities to fill the gaps in its current 3-stop, 6-stop, 10-stop and 15-stop range.

Breakthrough Photography Magnetic Filter system

Breakthrough Photography Magnetic Wheel and Magnetic Filter

Breakthrough Photography Magnetic Dark CPL (circular polarizer), 3-stop

Breakthrough Photography Magnetic Adapter and Magnetic Filter in action.

Breakthrough Photography Magnetic Wheel and Magnetic Filter

Breakthrough Photography Magnetic Wheel

Breakthrough Photography Magnetic Wheel and Magnetic CPL Filter

Breakthrough Photography X100 Holder for square and rectangular filters, which works with the Magnetic Filter system.

Links

Breakthrough Photography – Magnetic Filter – video

Breakthrough Photography – Magnetic Filters

Nature Photography Show – Breakthrough Magnetic Polarizer – video

Nature Photography Show – Magnetic Polarizer from Breakthrough Photography

Straight Talk on Photography – Magnetic filters-Are they the future? – video

Help support ‘Untitled’

Clicking on these affiliate links and purchasing through them helps us continue our work for ‘Untitled: Stories of Creativity, Innovation, Success’.

Breakthrough Photography – B&H

H&Y Filters – B&H

Xume – B&H

Breakthrough Photography Lives Up to Its Name with Breakthrough Magnetic Filter System for Circular, Square and Rectangular Filters Breakthrough Photography, makers of my preferred UV, circular polarizer, fixed neutral density filters due to their high optical 

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At long last, a company has recognized an issue that has increasingly been coming to the fore for travelling photographers and cinematographers, and has come up with a thoughtful, well-designed and well-made solution to it. Or rather, two companies in close collaboration, Think Tank Photo and SKB, and that issue is the increasing demand by airlines that we agree to stashing our precious, costly gear in the cargo hold instead of carrying it on as cabin luggage.

Think Tank Photo, a company whose soft camera bags and accessories I have used for some years, has collaborated with a maker of hard cases, SKB, a company new to me until now. Think Tank lists the products of this collaboration on its website under the SKB Hard Cases moniker and SBK has them on its website as the SKB Flyer Series.

There are similarities and differences between the two companies’ listings of the products of their collaboration, with SKB adding some video-oriented Flyer cases and a very useful long logistics hard case for carrying lighting and other production gear while Think Tank Photo appears to be  concentrating more on the stills side of things.

Think Tank Photos was a pioneer in supporting hybrid stills/video photographers/cinematographers with its brilliant but long discontinued Wired Up Multimedia soft case range that I use to this very day. Think Tank Photo seems to have passed the hybrid thing by now, focussing on pure cinematography with a fourteen soft case-strong collection of video transport cases illustrated carrying RED, Canon Cinema EOS and DJI drone cameras.

A subset of Think Tank Photo SKB Hard Case photographs

Think Tank Photo has recently begun illustrating its products with Fujifilm X-Series mirrorless cameras in a hat-tip to the ever-growing popularity of APS-C and, one assumes, Micro Four Thirds hybrid stills/video cameras for professional photography and moviemaking, especially in the self-funded independent documentary and feature sector, a refreshing relief from their former concentration on 35mm format DSLRs from Canon and Nikon.

I refuse to use the inane and inaccurate “full frame”, “full format” and “crop sensors” terminology in reference to digital sensor sizes. Fujifilm’s GFX 50S medium format camera makes such olde worlde 35mm absolutism appear ridiculous, especially given that it is about the same size or just a little bigger than the average DSLR.

Although M43 cameras are not shown in the product shots, it is safe to assume that a case that can carry Fujifilm X-T2 and X-Pro2 Super 35 APS-C cameras, lenses and accessories can also hold Panasonic or Olympus Super 16 M43 cameras, lenses and accessories.

That is good news for those like me who would prefer to transport our Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5, DMC-GH4 or DMC-GX8 fully rigged and ready for fast camera case egress going straight into shooting documentary footage minus fussing about attaching microphones, recorders, monitors, cables, cages, rigging and the like.

The same assumptions should apply to transporting the GFX 50S for stills photography given its DSLR size but bigger and better sensor.

The Think Tank Photo cum SKB Flyer hard case cum soft internals series could not have come at a better time as I am currently having to radically rethink how to carry my stills and video production gear during shoots, going to and from shoots and, when this interminable subdivision process is finally completed so we can refinance our projects including Untitled: Stories of Creativity, Innovation, Success, travelling intercity, interstate and overseas.

I am on the verge of a major camera case cleanup, reducing my reliance on shoulder bags and even backpacks unduly straining permanently damaged spine, shoulders, arms and back.

Another clean-up factor is leather now that Sydney’s weather veers towards sub-tropical with ever-advancing climate change and the danger of leather-loving, lens-destroying mould taking up permanent residence in most Australian homes. Add to that the cruelty and environmental impact aspects of leather production.

I want to see all camera bag and accessory makers abandon the use of leather and follow the examples of companies like Cosyspeed that use kinder, safer materials like synthetic leather as used in the automobile industry.

Meanwhile I am looking at the specifications of all ten of the SKB Hard Cases at Think Tank Photo’s website while remembering scenes I witnessed in the days when I carted aluminium hard cases and soft logistics cases around the deserts of Western Australia and the odd foray for corporate assignments in the eastern states.

Watching luggage handlers hurl bags on and off their trailers, topple them onto the ground, or sling them into luggage chutes made me cringe every time. It is great if you can get away with carrying your gear into the cabin but best to be prepared for that odd stroppy ticket or gate attendant who disputes that your “airline carry-on approved size” really is the approved size or rejects it for breaching said size by a millimetre or two.

Think Tank Photo’s SKB iSeries 3I-2011-7BP Backpack & Rolling Case.

Think Tank Photo’s SKB iSeries 3I-2011-7BP Backpack & Rolling Case, with Fujifilm cameras.

Links:

News Shooter – Hard shell, soft centre: Think Tank Photo dividers for SKB hard cases

SKB Cases – The SKB Flyer Series

Think Tank Photo – SKB Hard Cases

ThinkTankPhoto – How to Pack Photo Gear for a Regional Jet – Think Tank Photo

Image Credits:

Header image made from product photograph kindly supplied by Think Tank Photo and SKB Cases, processed with Macphun Luminar using a preset from the Tintype Looks collection, in remembrance of Khadija Saye,  British Gambian artist tragically killed in the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Think Tank Photo Releases SKB Series Hard Cases with Think Tank Photo Soft Interiors for Photographers and Videographers At long last, a company has recognized an issue that has increasingly been coming to the fore for travelling photographers and cinematographers, and has come up with a thoughtful, well-designed and well-made solution to it.

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One of the most underestimated, sadly rarely heard of, Super 35 4K camcorders out there is the JVC GY-LS300 by JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation’s JVC Professional Video division. I have never had the pleasure of trying out the GY-LS300 or even seeing one from a distance, so must rely on the professional insights of documentary cinematographer Rick Young who has expressed nothing but praise for the camera. 

The JVC GY-LS300 has intrigued me from the moment I first read about it, at a time when I was wondering whether I should stick with hybrid stills/video cameras or look into the emerging world of 4K camcorders.

With an independent self-funded photographer and moviemaker budget, and the need to adequately cater for both creative fields, I opted for hybrid cameras but sometimes wonder if I have made the right decision on the video side of things.

Should I have bitten the bullet on the JVC GY-LS300 4K camcorder and made do with a smaller selection of cameras and lenses for stills photography? Given the ongoing problems we have in this country with our lousy online upload speeds, some of the worst in the world, I made the best choice available at the time and opted to start off Untitled: Stories of Creativity, Innovation, Success by focussing more on documentary photography than short documentary movies.

If things had been different for Australian Internet access I would gladly have chosen to focus more on video than stills and I most likely would have selected the JVC GY-LS300 as my prime video camera with hybrids as my B and C cameras. If full-length documentary features enter the picture sometime soon, then I may well do exactly that.

JVC GY-LS300 4K camcorder with Atomos Ninja Inferno monitor/recorder

JVC GY-LS300 4K camcorder in Zacuto Recoil rig

JVC GY-LS300 4K camcorder with Veydra Mini Prime Micro Four Thirds geared cinema lenses

Before JVC announced its version 3.02 firmware update, the JVC GY-LS300 possessed a specifications list to impress:

4K Ultra High Definition video.

Super 35 4K CMOS sensor.

Micro Four Thirds lens mount.

Variable Scan Mapping for native angle of view with a wide range of lenses including M43, Super 16 and Super 35.

Lens mount adapters for EF and PL lenses.

Built-in 3-position ND filters – 1/4, 1/16 and 1/64.

HD-SDI (3G) and HDMI outputs with 4K only via HDMI, feeding and triggering external recorders.

DCI Cinema 4K 24p and DCI Cinema 2K 24p recording.

Full HD 4:2:2 recording at 50Mbps.

JVC-Log for 800% dynamic range.

120fps HD slow motion recording.

2-channel XLR phantom-powered audio inputs and included shotgun microphone.

Hot-swappable dual SDVH/SDXC card slots for dual, backup or continuous recording.

Handle unit for XLR input and microphone.

And more.

The one widely-reported downside to the JVC GY-LS300? Its viewfinder. Given current electronic viewfinder technology, JVC could easily add a far better EVF to the JVC GY-LS300 and really knock one out of the park.

Links:

Atomos – Ninja Inferno

JVC – GY-LS300CHU

JVC – GY-LS300 4K Super 35 camcorder – downloadable PDF brochure.

JVCKENWOOD – NEW FIRMWARE FOR JVC GY-LS300CH CAMERA ADDS 4K 4:2:2 RECORDING AND 60P OUTPUT

Rick Young – One of a kind – shooting with the JVC GY-LS300

Rick Young’s Movie Machine – JVC GY-LS300 ON LOCATION: REAL-WORLD SHOOTING

Image Credits:

Quick and dirty image graphic concept by Carmel D. Morris.

JVCKENWOOD Updates the Incredible JVC GY-LS300 4K Camcorder Firmware to Version 3.02, Adds 4K 4:2:2 Recording and 4K60p Output One of the most underestimated, sadly rarely heard of, Super 35 4K camcorders out there is the…

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My favourite cage for my Panasonic Lumix GH4 camera was made by Motion9, now trading internationally under the Seercam brand name. The only GH4 cage I had ever seen in real life was Motion9’s CubeMix GH4/3 and if the company’s other GH4 cage, the CubeMix GH4/3 Pro had been available at the time, then I would most definitely have bought that model instead, for its NATO sliding handle and one-touch cable clamp.

Now, Seercam has revealed its cage for the Panasonic Lumix GH5 and it looks like it will be the cage I buy for my GH5, when one finally finds its way into the country and into my hands.

Seercam’s newly-revealed Cube GH5 cage and NATO handle. Extension kit to accommodate the GH5’s DMW XLR1 audio adapter is coming soon.

I took a gamble on Motion9’s CubeMix GH4/3 and it paid off handsomely. I will be keeping my GH4 as second camera to my GH5 when it eventually arrives and it will be wearing its cage even more then than it does now.

My GH4 will continue to be equipped with its Cube Cage Round Handle, in my experience the most secure design of the two Motion9 top handles, though it does not have the convenience of fast-on, fast-on via NATO rail or the ability to balance the camera’s weight via sliding to and fro.

I would love an updated round handle in the style of the one on Canon’s Cinema EOS cameras, but Seercam’s CubeCage Classic Plus Handle looks tempting as does its quick-release Rod Riser 1565.

Pity both items are out of stock. Quick-release mechanisms, so long as they mount tightly and securely, are key to working fast and efficiently as an independent, self-funded documentary moviemaker who cannot afford crews and wasting time screwing and unscrewing camera rigging.

8Sinn’s GH5 cage and handles, especially its Scorpio top handle that can double as a side handle was the first custom cage for the GH5 to appear online and it has several attractions including its elegance, small size and camera-right hand grip-hugging design.

I have another camera cage now, SmallRig’s 1844 cage for the Panasonic GX8, and through it have come to appreciate the small size and light weight of minimalist camera cages, but for regular through heavy-duty moviemaking when I need to attach a range of accessories to the rig, Motion9/Seercam’s beautifully conceived, brilliantly designed and expertly manufactured cages are my go-to standard.

You can see why in the photographs below.

Seercam’s Cube GH5 body and handle

Coming soon: extension kit for placing handle over DMW XLR1 audio adapter

Links:

8Sinn – Accessories for GH5

CAME-TV – CAME-TV Protective Cage for GH5 Camera Rig

Chrosziel – SYSTEM 700-GH5

LockCircle – The Tactile Robot Skin GH5 – Page for this product appears unavailable, perhaps as it is a special order item only.

Seercam – CUBE GH5(body+handle)

SmallRig – SMALLRIG DSLR Cage for PANASONIC Lumix GH5 1965

Varavon – Zeus – GH5 Cage

Wooden Camera – Panasonic GH4/GH5 Camera Accessory Kit (Advanced) Configuration Guide

Seercam’s Brilliant New Cage for the Panasonic Lumix GH5 Available Soon, Extension Kit to Follow My favourite cage for my Panasonic Lumix GH4 camera was made by Motion9, now trading internationally under the…